


Accountability

by NoGoodTuna



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Drama, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Sci-Fi, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Indulgent, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-01-15 18:48:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 53,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12326763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoGoodTuna/pseuds/NoGoodTuna
Summary: As an up-and-coming squad, Goshiki Tsutomu, Hinata Shouyou, Kanji Koganegawa, and Tsukishima Kei, set out to try to reach the top of their class. Faced with the challenges of competitors who are seemingly much better than them, they don’t lose hope. However, one mistake sets them back farther than they could ever realize. With the stress of a mistake that costs them dearly, they must adapt, own up, and survive.





	1. Chapter 1

In the year 20XX, a portal in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean opened up. For weeks, ships and aircrafts guarded this location. Scientists scrambled to understand what they were looking at. Suddenly, an unmanned drone was sent flying into the portal. As the world watched on TV with bated breath, nary a sound was heard. Suddenly, after five minutes of silence people responded. Reporters on the scene immediately heard the loudest scream ever imagined. Numerous voices mingled together shrieking so loud that they fell on their knees grasping their ears. The sound was so loud that many people listening in felt pain on their ears. Some even going into temporary shock from the sound. With no warning the sound stopped.

As people regained their composure, scientists monitored the video terminals. On screen, the pitch black darkness they were looking at started to come to life. Color flooded into the terminals, Vibrant greens, blues, reds, and yellows soon emerged. Three suns, one on the East and West horizon and another in the sky, came into view. Below, waves on oceans moved peacefully. As the drone flew on, the shore was soon reached with ocean spray gathering on the lens on the camera. Next trees and green grasses appeared. Finally, as it continued on, the familiar sight of paved roadways appeared. The drone stopped as it nearly crashed into a piece of the roadway that was suddenly thrust up. The drone moved backwards but was stopped by another piece of road. As it turned to the left and right, more roadways appeared. Trapped, the drone attempted to ascend. As it rose the sight on the screen grew frightening. Large reptilian creatures the size of multistory buildings soon appeared on the distance. Farther in the distance, the dim shadow of what appeared to be a skyscraper sized creature could be spotted.

Scientists controlling the drone were tempted to continue their exploration of this new world. As the drone was maneuvered to hover at this distance, it quickly lost altitude fast. The camera blanked out only sending back the familiar image of gray noise. Once it landed on the ground, the camera came back on. What was seen was shocking. Human looking figures donning what appeared to be black suits with green and black lines providing an outline around their bodies appeared in the screen. The scene looked mystical. People thought later that these humanoids looked as if they were glowing angels out of religious lore, others thought they were the mystical beings that could only be imagined in popular fictional novels. Yet others thought they were just actors in a blockbuster movie filming in Hollywood. In any event, who they were was never mentioned. They picked up the drone and peered directly into the camera. One held a glowing arrow in his hand and quickly stabbed the lens with it.

More drones were sent into the portal and each met the same fate. As drones were destroyed nations rushed into action attempting to figure out what they could do with this portal. Unable to study it through unmanned means many felt the need to send people through. With adequate fortified defenses around fighter jets, uncovering the mystery of this new world could happen. As the first jets made it through the world, loss and destruction soon followed. Giant aerial creatures larger than the largest skyscrapers sent these planes crashing to the ground like paper airplanes. People were shocked and scared and nation after nation declared a state of emergency. The portal remained a huge liability and nations were scared. If these larger than life creatures made it through then the world would be at risk.

There wasn’t time for a defense plan to be made. The portal soon vanished. Joys were felt around the world as this brief glimpse into another beautiful, yet dangerous world went away. While much of the world’s fears vanished, behind the scenes many nations launched into developing new defenses in case such a situation arose again. For them, this was a threat that was not guaranteed to never appear again. If it did, they needed to be stronger. If one of those creatures made it through, they needed to ensure that life wouldn’t be lost.

The unprepared world was soon thrust into a new age of death and destruction. The world’s worst fears were realized. Portals appeared with regularity yet unpredictability. Nowhere was safe as these appeared. This time, unlike the first recorded instance before, creatures made their way through. Many cities were destroyed as these creatures had free reign to destroy. At first, it was unclear what they were after but soon, it appeared to be obvious. The most populous areas were quickly targeted first. Once the population in the targeted cities decreased the portals vanished. The creatures did too, going back to their portals once the last person was devoured.

Counter defenses were essentially nonexistent. The years they had to prepare did little to provide them with anything more than the usual missiles. Weapons of mass destruction, all but eliminated from arsenals in countries weren’t even considered. With the world population declining fast, the fear of after effects were high. Bioweapons were almost considered but the closest anyone could get to studying the creatures offered no chance to study. Driven back to living in the most rural of places humanity had to find a new way to survive. Thriving seemed to be a fleeting wish as people with the will to fight back soon found themselves in the grave.

Humanity was able to catch a break as invaders from another world appeared. Kept secret among only a few select world leaders, the technology these human looking invaders proved to be effective against fighting back against these creatures. The caveat, however proved to have the potential to be risky to implement. Only people in their teens to 20’s could use the tools to fight. The energy needed to fight was greatest in people in this age group, and the weapons developed fully took advantage of it. Adults could barely handle the weapons long enough to go into battle, meanwhile, these gifted younger ones could fight for more realistic periods of times. Each nation begrudgingly agreed to learn to develop and implement these weapons. Convincing parents and the public to let these people fight was a necessary endeavor that they nevertheless dealt with.

Our story, however, focuses on high schoolers at the center of their city’s struggle to thrive and survive. The stress of wanting to be successful in protecting their friends and family, while also having to deal with the desires to have a fulfilling high school life will push them to the limits.

“Shut up, Goshiki,” Tsukishima Kei stated between his heavy breathing.

“That was so gyah!!!!” Shouyou Hinata yelled as he slapped Goshiki Tsutomu across his back. Goshiki didn’t feel anything. He screamed even louder.

Kei appeared to be unable to hide his smile after seeing the other two’s reaction.

“You were so incredible Goshiki,” Shouyou continued to shout. Goshiki stood proudly. He looked at his wrist feeling accomplished at seeing WIN blinking intermittently on the flexible screen wristbands. Multicolored confetti rained down on the screen as trumpets blared a classical Romanesque victory theme.

“Was there any doubt we would lose?” Kei stated as he too stared at the screen.

“It felt that way. If you hadn’t realized the block they were setting up, then Goshiki would have been in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Koji said. As the team’s operator, the one who manned the map and coordinated their positions in the heat of battle, he could only stay in the combat information center (CIC).

Goshiki, Kei, and Shouyou were transported out of the virtual battlefield and into the CIC. As they stood up from their beds, Koji thrust them celebratory orange sodas.

“Job well done!” He said as they clanked their soda’s together.

“Shame Koganegawa couldn’t be here,” Koji added.

“Sometimes I wonder why I’m assigned to a team of people who can be so stupid,” Kei said under his breath.

“You know you love us,” Shouyou added as he laughed.

“I’d love you more if I didn’t have to tutor you all the time. You were almost going to be taking make-up exams with Koganegawa anyway.”

“I passed and that’s all that matters”

“One point above failing isn’t something to brag about.”

“We need to make sure you or Koganegawa passes. We’ll be at too much of a disadvantage if both of you are out,” Koji chimed in.

“Don’t worry, even if both of them are gone, I can cover for them. You saw how awesome I was right?” Goshiki spoke proudly.

“Have I ever missed a match because of an exam?” Shouyou interjected.

“Yes”

“Yes”

“Yes”

Koji, Kei, and Goshiki shouted.

“When?” Shouyou looked around puzzled.

“This day,” Koji said as he quickly flicked a video file from his wrist towards Shouyou’s wrist.

“I remember that day,” Goshiki stated as he heard the sound effects.

“Probably was Koganegawa’s best performance yet. Too bad we’ve yet to replicate that when all of us are in play,” Kei added.

“Wow Kogaengawa was really good this day. Did you see that backflip off the building as his sword split the midboss in half all the way down?”

“Yes, we were there, were you? Oh wait,” Kei added while smirking. Shouyou stuck his tongue back at him playfully.

“Stop it,” Koji added.

“Anyway we need to tell Koganegawa the good news. Tell him to come to Ukai’s diner tonight,” Shouyou shouted.

Shouyou and Kei said their goodbyes as they left the room. Kei continued to tease Shouyou over his absence as their voices faded down the hallway.

“Thanks again, Koji,” Goshiki added.

“No problem,” Koji said as he continued to browse the computer.

“Are you sure you don’t ever want to get some action in on these exhibition matches?”

“Not really. Even if we have an absence you still need someone here.”

“As long as I’m on the field we don’t need anyone else,” Goshiki said proudly.

“I don’t want to take that risk. Anyway you’re all a bit more skilled than me anyway. In real world emergencies I would just be dead weight.”

“No you wouldn’t.”

“I don’t want to burden you all with babysitting me. Okay.”

“You.”

“I’m fine, Goshiki, really.”

Goshiki wanted to add more but Koji had already returned most of his attention to the computer screen.

“See you tonight,” Goshiki stated as he moved towards the door.

“Yeah, same, I’ll have the summary report of today’s match sent to you in an hour or so,” Koji said without looking at Goshiki.

As Goshiki left the room he was met with kudos, accolades, and encomium from some of the other participants in other matches. He smiled as he took it all in. The “good works” and “great jobs” gave him inspiration for wanting to continue to do well in matches. The inbox icon on his wristband flashed intermittently with more congratulatory emails.

“Attention agents! Thank you for your participation! As always the best defense is a good offense!” Boomed the voice of the idol of Shiratorizawa Academy. Her voice, with a slight hint of a Brazilian accent sounded the end of every day of these intra-academy ranking wars. Shiratorizawa, like many of the other defense forces in this new age of survival, found the use of virtual training simulators to be a safe and effective way to prepare their region’s defenses. By providing tangible rewards to winners, as well as an advertised, open, and constantly updating ranking system, participants were inspired to perform and do better. What the school got from it was a steadily rising number of increasingly effective defenders. Daily ranking events both solo and team based helped to foster an environment of competition and comradery.  Based on numerous desires from students, these ranking events, Rank Wars, became more and more festive. Classes voted for an idol who would represent them in school and abroad. This year, a foreign exchange student from South America was chosen to represent Shiratorizawa.

Goshiki continued to walk through the halls until he reached a large room circled on all sides with glass. Any and every one could see into the room. However, it didn’t matter. Everyone knew what this room was and only the privileged could ever get into it. Goshiki swiped his card on the reader and entered once it glowed green.

“Good work Goshiki,” several senior level participants stated.

“Thank, thank you, Ushijima!” Goshiki said excitedly as he turned towards the final voice that spoke. Ushijima stood tall at the end of the table wearing a stoic expression.

“Wow that’s rare coming from you, Ushijima,” another senior level participant, Semi Eita, stated from behind Goshiki.

“Semi, too?” Goshiki said as he turned around in surprise.

“I’m here too,” Tendou said from behind Semi.

Semi looked disgruntled once he realized how close Tendou was.

“Don’t look like that Semi, you didn’t even realize I was following you the whole time,” Tendou said jokingly.

“The less I see you the better,” Semi took a seat.

Goshiki and Tendou did likewise.

“Once again, good work on the match Goshiki. You seem to be leading your team well,” Ushijima said as he manipulated the holographic display that was beside him. With a few clicks on his wristband, the video of Goshiki’s match played.

“You finally seem comfortable with your team,” Semi added. “We were afraid you wouldn’t mesh well with those brats from Karasuno-3, and the one from Datekougyou.”

“We thought you were going to come running back to us for help,” Tendou said, ignoring the glare sent his way from Semi.

“Only you thought that,” Semi responded. “Don’t mind him Goshiki.”

“I don’t,” Goshiki attempted to speak, but Ushijima cleared his throat.

“The reason you were called here is that we wanted to discuss your team. As the captain you bear the responsibility of training these gifted elites from the other schools in the region. We’re here to help you in anything that you need.”

“Thank you. But so far, there isn’t anything that I need. But if you think there is then I’m all ears!” Goshiki shouted.

“Calm down,” Tendou said softly.

“I can’t calm down when the Super Ace of Shiratorizawa is offering to help me!” Goshiki grasped his hands tightly, smile bright on his face.

“There he goes again,” Tendou all but moaned.

“Well this was productive,” Semi added.

“That’s all I have for you today,” Ushijima said completely unaware of the situation unfolding. “Dismissed.”

“That’s it?” Goshiki asked.

“Was there something else?”

“When will we go into actual combat?”

Ushijima turned to look towards Semi and Tendou. Both shrugged their shoulders. Ushijima stood silent for a brief moment. As the video playing the matches beside him came to an abrupt end, black screen appearing, he finally spoke. “Soon, if your team continues to perform well, then you could find yourself on a mission very soon.”

“We will do well, I assure it.”

“We expect big things Goshiki. Make us proud,” Semi added.

“Ditto,” Tendou sounded.

Goshiki stood and left the room. As he proceeded down the hallway, he turned around to see Ushijima and the others talking animatedly. Behind Ushijima appeared several schematics of battle formations. An image of a target of interest appeared beside him. This creature, Goshiki recognized, was one of those three story tall class reptilian creatures from the other world. He fought several in the virtual training grounds, but this was the first he saw of one in the real world setting. He went wide eyed at the thought of seeing the Super Ace take it down singlehandedly. He wished he could be there to see it.

Goshiki’s wristband vibrated gently as a message flashed on the screen. “Dinner at 6!”

He clicked the acknowledged button to stop the vibration.

Another message soon flashed by. “Meat, Meat, Meaty Meat.”

As he clicked to acknowledge that one another soon came.

“Stop that Shouyou!” Goshiki figured who that one was from.

“But Meat! And Goshiki’s paying!””

“He is, then by all means continue!”

“I didn’t agree to that!” Goshiki quickly typed his response on the virtual keypad.

“You’re the captain, you’re supposed to.”

“Kei, help me here.”

“That’s between you and Shouyou. All I know is, I’m not bringing my wallet tonight.”

“Koji!?!?”

No response came even five minutes later.

“Fine, my treat team,” Goshiki typed as he thought of how to justify this meal in his budget. This week would be tighter than it already was. He thought of typing out a message to Ushijima asking him for help with this but then quickly deleted the message, what would Ushijima think if he revealed that he couldn’t even afford to pay for a congratulatory dinner for his accomplished team. It would be embarrassing.

“Thank you” scrolled across his screen from not just three people but a fourth.

“Now Koji responds,” Goshiki said as he chuckled.

Goshiki reached his dorm room. Due to the nature of the defense organization the defenders were required to live on campus. Taking classes like normal high school students while also practicing their fighting skills was far more efficient when they didn’t have to deal with the daily troubles of commuting or tending to family matters.

Goshiki turned and noticed Shouyou’s battle clothes strewn about on one of the beds, seemingly tossed off in a hurry. Noticing Shouyou sandals missing from the door way as well as hangers on the floor in front of their shared closet, he realized that there was no sign of Shouyou in the room. Goshiki found this to be just as he expected. Being the social butterfly of their team, Shouyou was often not in the dorm during the daytime hours. How someone could become friends with almost everyone was something he always wanted to know, but never could build up the courage to ask.

Goshiki quickly threw off his clothes and fell flat on his bed. He set his alarm on his watch for 5 30 and quickly feel into the realm of dreams.

\--

“Goshiki! Goshiki!” Shouyou said loudly as he poked Goshiki in his side. Goshiki turned over, soft sounds of sleep continuing uninterrupted.

“Goshiki! Come on Goshiki! Get up!” Shouyou shouted loudly.

“You have to try harder, no one would wake up from that. It probably tickles,” Koganegawa added. “Let me try.” Koganegawa moved into position and gave a harsher poke to Goshiki’s sides.

Goshiki stirred faster than anyone expected, quickly jumping up and out of the bed. “Yowch,” he sounded as he rubbed his sides.

“See,” Koganegawa said while smiling.

“I’m surprised that worked,” Shouyou said as he sat down at his desk.

“I do it to Kei all the time. He sleeps so heavily.”

“Sometimes I had to throw water on him.”

“Oh I should do that, but why does he sleep so long?” Koganegawa asked as he moved out of Goshiki’s way. As Goshiki moved through the closet finding something to wear, Koganegawa stood over Shouyou’s desk and continued their conversation.

“I think he stays up really late. Later than you and even I,” Koganegawa quickly interjected.

“The last time I woke up at 4 am, he was still sitting at his desk, headphones in his computer, feet tapping, and singing softly. I didn’t get to see what was on his computer. But If I had to guess, maybe he was just listening to music.” Hinata responded. “But I don’t know why someone would listen to music that late.”

“Maybe he was studying. People listen to music when they study. He looks like a studier. Did he study a lot with you at Karasuno?” Koganegawa bombarded Shouyou with questions.

“I don’t remember seeing him studying. Though, it was different there. We didn’t really have dorms. I mean, we had them but you only stayed in them when you were assigned to be on guard for 24 hour periods. Studying was the last thing we worried about while we were there,” Shouyou added.

“You make it sound like it was an unpleasant experience,” Goshiki chirped up as he pulled a shirt over his head.

“It could have been better,” Shouyou said grimly.

“Uhm,” Koganegawa looked back and forth as Goshiki seemed to quiet down look of confusion on his face as he tried to figure out if he should say anything else or stay silent. Shouyou seemed to have visibly drew in toward himself, mindlessly clicking the mouse on his keyboard.

A knock on the door quickly reinvigorated everyone. “I’ll get it,” Koganegawa jumped up and opened the door. “Kei!” Koganegawa shouted.

“You’ve been around Shouyou too much.”

“Hm?” Koganegawa smirked as he looked back and forth between Kei and Shouyou.

“Did you pass your exam this time?” Kei asked as he moved into the room. As the door shut behind him, Shouyou and Goshiki both looked to Koganegawa expectantly.

“I did! Your help really paid off.” He thrust the exam in Kei’s face.

Kei grabbed the exam and looked at it. After a brief minute he began to chuckle. “You and Shouyou never cease to amaze me. We went over this question several times, and you both still couldn’t answer this question correctly?

“It’s hard to remember how to do it during the exam Kei!” Koganegawa said softly.

“Goshiki even remembered how to do it,” Kei said as he handed the graded exam back to Koganegawa.

“He’s our captain I would hope he knows how to solve these math problems,” Shouyou stood and moved over to the door.

“They aren’t difficult problems. Are you all just not studying anything in the evening?” Goshiki inserted himself into the conversation naturally.

Shouyou and Koganegawa looked at Goshiki in complete bewilderment.

“Shouyou, Koganegawa!”

“What?” They both said in response to Goshiki’s exclamation.

“Unless you want to be stuck doing ranking events, then you need to improve. They won’t let us going on real skirmishes if all of us won’t be present.”

“What he means to say,” Kei added, “is they don’t let dumb people onto the battlefield.”

“Rude!” Shouyou yelled as he gently shoved Kei to the side.

“It’s true,” Kei chuckled.

A knock on the door suddenly got their attention.

“It’s me,” Koji stated

“We’re heading out,” Goshiki said just as he finished putting on his sandals.

Dressed in the purple and white colors of Shiratorizawa, everyone wore the usual thigh length lightweight shorts and fairly loose plain t-shirts. Aptly prepared for the warm summer evening, they instantly relaxed upon leaving the heavily air conditioned interior of Shiratorizawa Academy. Outside, the brilliant sun, beginning its descent towards the horizon, brought about calming feelings. The light southerly breeze, with its touch of slight humidity, felt perfect on their skin. The nice weather almost felt out of place in the context of the world they lived in.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our favorite squad explores sometime off the Shiratorizawa campus.

In order to leave Shiratorizawa, they had to walk through the gate post. Like most of the remnant cities in this day and age, fortified defenses were needed to provide protection from smaller otherworldly creatures. A feat of interworld engineering, nanomachines with otherworldly energy sources were created. These machines emitted sounds at frequencies that could deter the invading creatures from getting close to human settlements. Nanomachine embedded walls lined every settlement. For defense agencies, which also served as shelters in times of crises, their walls were at a minimum of ten stories tall. Nanomachines could be mobilized to a portion of the wall. This mobilization enabled them to exert a much greater deterrence force, which in turn could prevent much larger creatures from getting close. It was a revolutionary new defense mechanism that allowed for much of the world to resume an, albeit more constrained, normal life. 

“State your order of business,” Ohira, one of the seniors of Shiratorizawa, stated as Goshiki stood in front of the booth to leave Shiratorizawa grounds.

“Subway to Karasuno,” Goshiki stated dryly. He then motioned towards the four others with them.

“Good work earlier. You made me proud too!” Ohira said as he typed information on the computer terminal in front of him.

“Thanks, thanks to my seniors’ training I was able to be successful!” Goshiki said proudly.

“Someday we’ll have to see how you do against us,” Ohira handed Goshiki five passcards to the subway.

“We will get to challenge the Super Ace?” Shouyou asked excitedly.

“Some of us will, if you know what I mean,” Kei added as he pushed Shouyou forward.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Shouyou exclaimed.

“The other time you said that, you happened to miss the next match.”

“That won’t happen again.”

“You want to bet on it?”

“We have a subway to catch guys,” Koji pushed Kei and Shouyou forward. “That means you too Koganegawa, stop daydreaming.” As if reawakened, Koganegawa rushed forward past the others.

“Be back by 10 PM,” Ohira added as he saw Goshiki and the others off.

The light fortified defenses outside the Shiratorizawa gates highlighted the peaceful location Shiratorizawa was in. Unlike the large obstructive wall that lined the Shiratorizawa school grounds, the wall outside the school was more like one you see lining a residential property. It was fitting for the scene as landscaping was actually kept up. Trees lined the road paths, red tulips and roses were planted in ornately designed arrangements, a fountain of an eagle shooting water from its beak served as the centerpiece of the center area of this plaza. Around the plaza were several businesses that Goshiki was all too familiar with. When anyone wanted something that wasn’t the same cafeteria provided food or when one felt too lazy to want to cook their own food, then they would come here to one of the many mom and pop diners.  Chinese, American, European food shops found business with the remaining people living in the Shiratorizawa defense area.

“That store wasn’t there before,” Koganegawa stated as they walked through the business.

The boys stopped to look at the newly renovated storefront. Sandwiched between a ramen shop and a burger joint, it wasn’t hard to miss. 

“It wasn’t?” Shouyou asked.

“No, I think it was a, um?” Goshiki stopped and stared hard at the building for one second. He ignored the tuna fish shaped sign in front of the building and looked to the awning. The purple and white awning quickly made him remember.

-

“Semi what are we doing here?” Goshiki asked as they stood in front of a ramen shop. “We just ate.”

“We’re not going there,” Semi chuckled. “We’re going in there.” Semi pointed to the store next door. The purple and white awning gave the impression that it was a store run by alumni of Shiratorizawa or at least people with great school spirit.

“This one, I don’t need any new Shiratorizawa outfits. I have so many already,” Goshiki frankly stated.

“Just come in, don’t you want to spend some time with one of your seniors? Or am I not good enough for you?”

Goshiki noticed Semi’s slightly saddened face and frantically waved his hands about. “No, I don’t mean it like that! Let’s, let’s go in.”

Semi laughed, “I was only joking, and I know I can never be the Super Ace.”

“There is only one!” Goshiki added reflexively.

“You don’t want to be that good someday?”

“I do, but I can’t find a way to even get help from Ushijima.”

“You can’t blame him. He has to go on every mission they assign. He is the best one here, at least, in terms of kill count.”

“What’s the point of being here if I don’t ever get to work with him directly?”

“He talks to you and gives you advice. And you get to work with me and Tendou.”

“Yes but.” Goshiki said hesitantly.

“We’re on his team so we’re just as good.” Semi added patting Goshiki on the shoulder.

“But I want to be there when all three of you are there so I can learn and participate.”

Semi paused as he thought about what he would say next. “I know, come here.” He motioned for Goshiki to follow him. They walked through many racks in this memorabilia and paraphernalia store of various knick knacks and doodads. Goshiki was familiar with where they were going as it was the special section only those who made it onto Shiratorizawa’s fighting squad could access. Fingerless gloves, skin tight and loose battle shorts and pants, skirts, and tank tops were some of the clothes that lined the many shelves. Many of the clothes featured heavy otherworldly influenced features that made them more durable than one would be led to believe. Embedded with nanomachines, these clothes could endure bone crushing hits that would be absorbed and dispersed on impact. If someone wore the full outfit, these blows could be reduced enough that the wearer would feel only the slightest discomfort. Since implementation, trauma based accidents from one or two hits had been greatly reduced. Additional clothing lined the shelves, though these were more for fashion and every day wearing. Popular among male students were the lightweight shorts and light t-shirts that helped to make the warm humid conditions of Shiratorizawa bearable in the summer.  Nanomachines were present in these clothes which enabled them to be comfortable to wear in both the warm outside air as well as the cool air conditioned interior of Shiratorizawa. These machines could generate enough heat or cool air to keep the parts of the body they touched at the normal human body temperature. They could also lick away any moisture immediately sending it back into the environment. A final and often not advertised feature is that they too had the ability to absorb impacts. Unsurprisingly these were popular alternatives to going out of the walls of Shiratorizawa in full body armor all the time.

After passing the numerous racks of clothes, Semi motioned for Goshiki to help him move the floor to ceiling curtain that covered a wall. Without question, Goshiki helped him move it. After the curtain was moved, Semi moved towards the now visible door. He unlocked it with a key and proceeded to enter. Goshiki followed behind him. Once inside he closed the door. The pitch black room soon came to life as popping was heard. As the lights came on, confetti rained down around Goshiki.

“Congratulations!” screamed numerous voices.

“For what?” Goshiki yelled, completely baffled by the occasion.

“Didn’t Semi tell you?” Ushijima, one of the many people in the room, said.

“No, I wanted to keep it a surprise,” Semi said behind chuckles. He quickly captured a picture of Goshiki who still looking lost.

“Look to the wall,” Tendou, now behind Goshiki, said as he pointed.

“What! This can’t be happening. This!” Goshiki screamed once he read the sign. “Congratulations on your promotion,” he mouthed.

“It’s well deserved,” Ushijima stated as he approached Goshiki. “I recommended you for it, Semi, and Tendou agreed, and everything followed after that.”

“But when, I didn’t know you paid attention?” Goshiki said. He struggled to take it all in. It was too unreal.

“We’re always watching, even when you think we aren’t, we are,” Tendou said seriously.

“That sounds really creepy,” Semi added. “Anyway Goshiki, it’s like I said, Ushijima isn’t the only one.”

“There isn’t much for us to teach you. Your skill is already captain level. Any of your deficiencies will be eliminated with more practice. The best way for you to get more practice is to become a captain yourself,” Ushijima, ignoring that it was a festive party added factually.

“Then who am I leading? This isn’t even recruitment season,” GOshiki asked.

“We don’t know yet,” Ushijima said while looking back and forth between Tendou and Semi.

“But we,” Tendou spoke.

“Don’t know. They didn’t tell us anything,” Semi said while nudging Tendou.

“We don’t know, right,” Tendou said as he rolled his eyes.

“This cake is so good!” Shirabu stated loudly as he and a few others enjoyed the large cake on the table.

“Save me some!” Goshiki shouted as he moved away from Semi, Tendou, and Ushijima to the table.

“You were too busy talking that we couldn’t wait,” someone said.

“But it’s MY cake!” Goshiki shouted, “But first give a slice to Ushijima!”

Many laughs erupted.

\--

“This used to be the place where anyone could get their Shiratorizawa themed clothes,” Goshiki said to Koganegawa, Shouyou, Kei, and Koji as they continued on to the station.

“That’s sad that they closed up,” Koji added.

“But it’s more convenient now that’s its located on campus. We don’t have to go through the hassle of requesting to leave just to buy a shirt or something,” Shouyou remarked.

“It’s nice to get away from those fortified walls, it feels like a prison some times,” Koganegawa sighed unconsciously.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” added Kei.

“Yeah, but,” Shouyou attempted to speak but then stopped midsentence.

“Shouyou is something wrong?” Goshiki asked.

Shouyou remained silent as he continued to walk. It appeared as if he were in a daze, mindlessly continuing on the path set before them. Goshiki asked again but still there was no response. He looked to Koganegawa and Koji for help. They turned simultaneously to Kei.

“Tch,” Kei sounded as he hastened his pace to catch up to Shouyou. Once he reached him he spoke softly.

Everyone stood silent as they watched Kei speak to Shouyou. Not close enough to hear them, they could only watch as Shouyou’s body language conveyed a change. While Kei was speaking, Shouyou’s shoulders relaxed. He rested his head ever so slightly against Kei’s torso. Kei extended his arm around Shouyou’s shoulder and gently gripped it. Shouyou nodded as some words were whispered, a chuckle was even heard and seen as he bobbed his head up and down. Kei rustled Shouyou’s head as they split apart.  

“Goshiki, earth to Goshiki,” Koganegawa said as he tapped him on the shoulder.

“Ko, Koganegawa?” Goshiki asked in a daze.

“Do you need a tissue?”

“No, why would you ask that?” Goshiki said as he wiped his eyes. “It’s just dust in the air.” Goshiki speed walked ahead not giving Koganegawa any chance to speak.

Koganegawa turned to Koji. “There isn’t any dust anywhere.”

Koji didn’t respond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but I had fun.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An enjoyable dinner provides some insights into Hinata, Tsukishima and their past. Afterwards, Shiratorizawa-3 cautiously looks forward to big things looming on the horizon.

Their spirits were high as they emerged from the subway station. Saying little, everyone was united in the same thought. The promise of a scrumptious and fulfilling home cooked dinner awaited. Thoughts of their usual routine of the same ole same ole delicately measured nutritious and occasionally bland food offered by Shiratorizawa fled with each step that brought them closer to the diner.

Located in a small town only accessible via a small dirt path or the direct subway line from Karasuno and Shiratorizawa, Ukai’s was the most decorated dining destination in the region. At first look, this hole in the wall appeared to be nothing more than a typical family run convenience store. However, it was more than that. As the other business owners closed up shop and fled the town, Ukai’s managed to realign their store’s focus. With restaurants fleeing they saw a need and capitalized upon it. They gave up selling the assorted household products and personal effects, gutted the interior, hand built table fixtures and seating, and quickly crafted a menu. With a subway station in town, they heavily advertised and managed to get commuters to check their store out. As folks liked their home cooked meals word spread and business boomed. Now, with a larger kitchen staff, a sophisticated menu, and less competition, they were the sole remaining restaurant. Their food quality saw such an improvement and such popularity, that awards kept coming. Staying true to its roots, food continued to remain locally sourced, recipes continued to be inspired by the locals, and servings remained very generous. This combination was a hit with students and adults alike.

For any and all celebratory events the students of Shiratorizawa made great efforts to treat themselves to Ukai’s. Goshiki’s team was no different and he often brought them here.

“Today is the bar-b-que buffet. The best day!” Shouyou shouted as he saw the Ukai’s sign on the end of the corner glowing brilliantly against the setting sun. He immediately prepared to take off.

“Wait up, we need to sit together!” Goshiki said quickly. Shouyou stopped midstep.

“Hurry up! I’m hungry.”

“We all are, the food isn’t going anywhere,” Kei responded. He was breathing a bit more than the others.

“Fine,” Shouyou pouted as he stood by the sign waiting for everyone else.

Though enhancements to the interior had been made, nothing was done to the exterior. It still consisted of peeling and fading white paint on the front walls of the store. A flower bed outside and a few trees helped to cover up a few of the more blatant blemishes on the wall, but they brought about their own problems. Weeds were out-competing many of the plants in the garden. Dandelions and daffodils were scattered in complete disarray. Blueberry bushes were planted here and there. The worst offender was the consistent areas with no plants. Some strawberry vines lined the walkway into the store so it wasn’t all bad. It actually felt quaint. They led to a wooden door where one could enter Ukai’s. The wooden door, painted a vibrant orange was now an off color yellow. Shingles from the slanted roof were missing in spots. Meanwhile the window shutters, though not broken, looked like they were barely hanging on to their hinges. It was almost laughable that the interior of the windows would be crowded to the limit with figures of various animals. It seemed as if it were there to bring life to the window but it instead conveyed an image of neglect and deterioration.

Shouyou entered the restaurant first. The silver bells on the door chimed.

“Welcome to Ukai’s,” a young female voice called as she walked up to them. Dressed in an orange and black pants suit she greeted Shouyou with a bow.

“Hitoka? What are you doing here?” Shouyou said, smile fading by the second.

“I work here part time,” she said happily.

“What about the thing with Karasuno?”

She looked back and forth, and waved to Kei. She started to speak to Shouyou but was interrupted by Kei.

“I don’t think you need to say anything,” Kei added quickly.

“You didn’t tell him?” She asked him.

“There is nothing to tell him,” Kei responded as he grabbed Shouyou’s shoulder. “We would like a seat for five please.”

Goshiki wondered just what was going on between the three of them. He made a mental note to consult the personnel records later.

“Friend from Karasuno, I take it,” Koji asked as they were seated in a booth.

“Yeah” Hitoka answered as she handed them menus.  “Shouyou, Kei, and I were in the same classes at Karasuno. Although Kei was scary at first we had a blast together. He was practically inseparable from Shouyou.” Kei turned red as a beet as she said this. “How’s Tadashi doing?” she turned and asked Kei.

“I haven’t really talked to him lately. I thought he’d be with you?” He asked still slightly red faced.

“Ever since the, you know, everyone’s gone their separate ways. Kind of sad really, but it’s how it is you know?” She said cheerily.

“You must see some of them occasionally, it’s not like Ukai’s wasn’t popular at Karasuno too,” Shouyou asked her as he joined the conversation.

“I’m roommates with Shimizu, and you know how popular she was with Yuu and Ryuu. But everyone else I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen them. Mr. Takeda seems intent on making sure no one’s schedule overlaps.”

“That’s terrible,” Shouyou said in disappointment.

“You were fortunate to get away from here, the rest of us could only wish such an opportunity came our way.”

“We tried to ouch!” Shouyou shouted as he grabbed his foot. He immediately glared daggers at Kei.

“I think Hitoka has to get back to work,” Kei said.

“We were only having a short talk,” Shouyou said through clenched teeth. Kei stomped on his foot again. “Stop that.”

“Yeah if I don’t get back Ukai will yell at me again,” She chuckled. “And you know how he can get,” Hitoka said. Kei and Shouyou laughed bitterly. “Anyway what would you all like to drink?”

\--

“Well I’m stuffed,” Shouyou said as he continued to nibble on a slice of bacon.

“Anyone would be stuffed if they had five plates piled like a mountain with only meat,” Kei added.

Goshiki cried out in apology. “As your captain, I have failed you. I didn’t stop you from eating so much.”

“What are you apologizing for, this was a time of celebration,” Shouyou said.

“Yeah Goshiki, it’s a time for us to let loose and eat as much as we want,” Koganegawa, who had been silent for a while finally spoke.

“Have to agree with him,” Koji added.

Goshiki didn’t say anything.

“And plus, Goshiki, you had more than three plates too,” Koji continued.

“You were counting?” Goshiki said in shock.

“I didn’t mean too, I just couldn’t help it,” Koji chuckled nervously.

“As expected of our tactical commander,” Kei said smartly.

“I wouldn’t trade Koji for the world,” Koganegawa said as he bit into the last piece of his red velvet cake.

“Thank you, I think?” everyone laughed.

“Anyway back to our discussion earlier, it’s important that we all do our best to be in matches together,” Goshiki said.

“He’s speaking to you,” Kei pointed to both Koganegawa and Shouyou.

“We know,” they both groaned.

“Ushijima seemed like he was ready to start recommending us to go into combat. I think they preferably want all of us to be there,” Goshiki continued. “This could make or break us, we have to make our seniors proud.”

“Ushiwaka?” Shouyou said as he licked his fingers. “Whoa!!!”

“Ushijima,” Goshiki corrected.

“Ushiwaka the super ace mentioned us specifically?” Shouyou caught up in the excitement jumped up.  Forgetting where he was, he bumped into the table causing their plates and cups to rattle and clang.

“Shouyou,” Kei looked sternly at him.

“Sorry!”

Goshiki ignored both of them as he continued.  “Yes, I met with Ushijima,” Goshiki added heavy emphasis to Ushijima, “Ushijima complimented us on our job well done today.”

“I picked the wrong day to take a make-up exam,” Koganegawa said regretfully.

“There is no right day to take a make-up exam,” Kei said, in a more playful tone than usual.

“When did we get so good that Ushijima would take time to watch our matches,” Koji said bashfully.

“We haven’t even been here for six months and we’re already being recognized. It’s hard to believe,” Kei too looked warm. Feelings of accomplishment seemed evident on his face.

“It isn’t that hard to believe, after all, you have me for your captain,” Goshiki spoke big smile and all.

“Did you even have a record before we came?” Kei asked pointedly.

“You can’t be captain without one. I think,” Koji responded.

“He’s a first year like us, so it’s kind of surprising when you think about it,” Koganegawa added.

“What were we doing with our lives,” Shouyou exclaimed.

“Stick with me, and you too could become as strong as any Shiratorizawa captain,” Goshiki said amidst laughter.

Hitoka soon appeared with the bill for the meal. She looked towards Shouyou who signaled for it to go to Goshiki. She placed it upside down in front of Goshiki, said thank you, and then walked to another table.

Goshiki flipped the receipt over then moaned as he dropped his head to the table. Cubes of ice in cups clinked the sides as the force of the impact Goshiki made spread throughout the table. As he lifted his head tears streamed down his face as his mouth was in a tight shaped pout. He crumbled the receipt up in his hand, then went to take out his wallet regretfully. He winced as he placed each bill on the table.

“Thank you Captain!” Kei said rather loudly. With a hand on his mouth, he said as an aside, “stay strong captain.”

Amidst teary eyes Goshiki glared at Kei. “The price of being captain is too great,” Goshiki proclaimed.

“Thank you!” three other voices sounded as he placed the final bill on the table.

“Next time we should just celebrate in my room,” Goshiki said as he stood up.

The other boys followed him out the door.

“Bye Shouyou, bye Kei. Keep in touch,” Hitoka said as she stopped them before they stepped outside.

“We will,” Shouyou answered.

“Yes,” Kei said monotonously.

“Ill tell the other’s I saw you, they’ll be glad you’re doing well at Shiratorizawa,” Hitoka then went and grabbed both Shouyou and Kei into a tight hug. “Remember, no one blames you two for what happened. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

Both boys didn’t respond as they let themselves be embraced by her.  As she let go a sniffle could be heard, but neither Goshiki nor Koganegawa nor Koji could tell whose it was. Before Goshiki could inquire further, he felt Koji pushing him and Koganegawa forward.

“But Koji,” Koganegawa cried.

“Give them some privacy,” Koji said softly. Once outside, Goshiki glanced back once more to catch a teary faced Shouyou being embraced by Kei and Hitoka again. The door soon shut closing out the scene.

“Well this is awkward,” Koji said once they reached a park bench at the edge of the garden. They sat and stared at the last glimmers of the setting sun over the horizon. The sky was painted with a multicolored paintbrush of purples, pinks, oranges, and gold. The colors helped to morph the puffy white clouds into a dazzling display or streaks and curved shapes that left the boys amazed. Their imagination ran wild as they thought they could see pink flamingos, golden hens, purple geese, and multicolored striped butterflies. They stared as their minds were taken off the thoughts of the scene that they walked out and into thoughts of a future filled with endless possibilities.

\--

“Head’s up, Shouyou,” Goshiki said as he tossed a chocolate bar towards Shouyou. Shouyou, engrossed in his favorite manga about an orange jump suit wearing knuckled headed ninja, let the chocolate bar land on his bed. He hummed his thanks as he continued reading. He moved his legs happily up and down on his bed as he continued to read. Goshiki smiled at the scene.

Goshiki moved to his computer terminal and booted it up. As it hummed to life, he opened his chocolate bar and quickly got to snacking on it. One of the things he loved about Shiratorizawa was their taste in candy. The white chocolate coated crispy bar contained his favorite assortment of chocolate chunks and peanuts. The caramel interior was a great touch that helped to bring the chocolate and peanut flavors together. Although, at first, he thought it was a blatant ripoff of a popular chocolate bar, he quickly grew to love and appreciate this student made iteration of the chocolate bar. It felt unique, tasted amazingly, and was, most importantly, able to satisfy his sweet tooth. By the time the terminal completed its boot up process he was already done with the bar. He looked towards Shouyou’s still unopened bar. Tempted to ask for it, he quickly moved his thoughts to his own computer.

His email client’s “NEW EMAIL” icon blinked intermittently on his welcome screen. Clicking it, he quickly deleted all the solicitation emails. It seemed life insurance and will writing services were all the rage. He sighed as he moved the twenty emails to junk mail. Several congratulatory emails were next. He smiled as he opened each one. When he came to Ushijima’s email he gripped his mouse harder than he usually would. As he clicked it, he almost let out an audible gasp. He had to hold back his chuckle as it was the most out of character thing he had expected Ushijima to do. No words were in the email, rather it was an emoji; the smiling face that would shoot out a banner that read “congratulations” with a streamer and confetti. He stared at the email to read again. If it wasn’t animated, he would have printed it out.  As he mindlessly clicked through the rest, none of them comparing to Ushijima’s, he continued to smile. Once he reached the end of the new messages, he prepared to close his email client, however, another new message popped up.

SUBJECT: RECONNASSAINCE 1040

He opened it up posthaste.

“ATTN Goshiki Tsutomu. Report to CIC at 1040. RECONNASSAINCE DANGER LEVEL 2. CONFIRM Y/N”

“It’s happening,” Goshiki yelled.

Shouyou jumped up in surprise. He quickly moved forward towards Goshiki. His leg got tangled in the covers causing him to slam face first into the shaggy rug in the middle of the floor. Pain was no object, as he quickly moved forward and reached Goshiki. He read the email and screamed loudly too.

“Shut up,” someone screamed from the hallway.

“But it’s happened,” Shouyou said as he ran towards the door.

“Whoaaaaaaa” Koganegawa, standing in front of the now opened door took a few steps backwards in surprise.

“What’s the commotion,” Kei asked as he appeared next.

“We’re actually going on a real mission. Can you believe it Kei?! Can you?” Shouyou bursting with energy was bouncing on his feet and all around the room.

“So it’s happening,” Kei said.

“Ushijima worked fast,” Shouyou added.

“Someone tell Koji,” Koganegawa quickly demanded.

“On it,” Goshiki said.

“1040, that’s early,” Kei said as he finally accepted the message.

“No classes tomorrow then. Yes!” Shouyou said gladly. Koganegawa joined him in celebrating.

“The difficulty level is really low,” Kei stated.

“It’s probably a safe place to start,” Koji’s voice sounded from all of their wrist bands.

“We don’t have experience as a team in the real world,” Goshiki responded.

“We have individual experience. Isn’t that what matters most?” Shouyou looked to Kei. “As long as Koji guides us, there shouldn’t be any problem.”

“Shouyou has a point, and we’re much better than we were when we first formed a team,” Koganegawa moved closer to Shouyou.

“Fighting out there is different than fighting in here, you two,” Goshiki entered the conversation before the steadily getting agitated Kei could respond. Kei twitched as Koganegawa attempted to respond. Kei cut him off before he could speak.

“A simple substitution is enough to make even the most established of teams perform worse than usual. Why do you think they don’t have many substitutions in the first place? It’s risky.”

Shouyou quickly moved grabbing Kei’s hand. “We’re different!”

“We can handle anything, we’ve suffered no casualties in practice,” Koganegawa said empathically.

“While that is true,” Kei paused. “Practice is not the real world,” Kei stressed.

“You make it sound like practice is a game,” Koganegawa said almost angrily. “They wouldn’t have us spend so much time in practice if the experience we gained there wasn’t important in reality.  


“It’s important, yes, but just because you didn’t die there, doesn’t mean you can’t die out here.”

“We’re on a team, how would we die when we haven’t died there. We all pick up each other’s slack, defend and protect each other, and, thanks to Koji, even launch good counteroffensives. There’s reasons we haven’t died. I don’t understand what you’re thinking.”

“What is there to not understand?” Kei asked as if it was the simplest concept to grasp, “We practice against computer controlled creatures that have set behavioral patterns. There’s no variability in their motions. We know exactly what they will do before they even do it. Koji knows these patterns which is why he is so effective. I know some of them too which is why you and Shouyou’s recklessness doesn’t always get us killed. Goshiki and I take up your slack in defenses and protect you. Out here, all of that is thrown out the window. Without going on low difficulty missions, we’d be thrown out among the wolves with no help. I don’t know if you get this, but I’ll just remind you; we’re not pieces of data out here. We’re flesh and blood, we can die. Look, if you want to complain to the higher ups about the mission level, be my guest. Just know that when you’re out there on an impossible mission and we all die, that I will never forgive you even in the afterlife.”

Shouyou harshly gripped Kei’s hand causing him to wince. “Kei!”

As Koganegawa moved his mouth to speak, Kei turned pulling Shouyou with him, and left the room shutting the door behind him.

The previous festive atmosphere now turned into one of confusion and disappointment. Goshiki stared disapprovingly at Koganegawa.

“Will Kei be alright?” Koji asked Goshiki directly from his wristband.

“I think so?” Goshiki said questioningly. “It didn’t sound like he was against the mission.”

“But are you going to ask for a harder one?” Koji responded.

Koganegawa turned towards Goshiki.

“No, of course not, we have to earn the right to go on those,” Goshiki said.

“More importantly, Koganegawa,” Goshiki turned to look at him. “Isn’t there something you need to do?”

“I did nothing wrong,” Koganegawa quickly blurted out turning his head away from Goshiki’s stern eyes.

“But Kei,” Koji stated.

“I don’t think I was wrong, we’re a good team, strong too, I don’t think we would die on a mission, okay.” Koganegawa said defensively.

“If that’s how you feel, then fine. But if you let tonight disrupt our performance tomorrow,” Goshiki said grimly, “then you’ll find yourself written up.”

“You’d go that far?” Koji asked.

“Yes, do you want to go six more months of being the only team to stay on campus in training?” Goshiki replied.

“No” rang out four voices, several of which came from the speaker on their wristbands.  

“Kei?” Koganegawa asked.

“Yes,” He responded.

“You were listening in?”

“I couldn’t help it, as long as Koji is on the call, it’s not like this thing will shut off,” Kei stated. The thing he referred to was the communicator on their wrists. As long as one team member was using it, it remained on, transmitting sound and, if enabled, video.

“And Koganegawa left his keys, so I can’t exactly go to sleep either,” Kei added.

“You’re a life saver Kei!” Koganegawa shouted as he left the room.

“Well see you all tomorrow,” Koji stated as he cut off the connection.

Goshiki moved back to the computer terminal.

“This is going to be so amazing,” Shouyou said excitedly. The door slammed behind him as he entered the room. Sitting back on his bed he flipped open the volume of manga. Seconds later, Goshiki heard him toss the book aside. “Gwo!! I can’t wait!” Shouyou rocked across the bed side to side, swiftly sitting up in amazement. “How can you focus on your computer after receiving the news?”

“I can’t stop thinking about it either,” Goshiki responded as he stared blank faced at the now turned off computer screen. Thoughts of reading emails were far from his mind as he began to think about the mission for the next day. He reached over to the file cabinet beside his desk for a binder.

“Oh!!!! you’re going to stay up to plan our strategy?” Shouyou said with a bit of concern.

“Since I can’t really focus on anything else, I thought I should. We need to be prepared.”

“Even for a low difficulty mission?”

“Yes. I just don’t know what else to do tonight,” Goshiki chuckled as he opened the large binder. Filled inside were reports generated by Koji about success rates of different tactics employed by their team in practice. Considering what Kei mentioned earlier he debated on whether to go with one of their more offensive type of strategies or to go with a more conservative and balanced team.

“Well, I’m fine with whatever you decide. You haven’t led us wrong so far.”

“Of course I haven’t,” Goshiki said a bit absent mindedly as he flipped between two pages he had tabbed. He focused intently on the two taking into account the personalities of the members he led, the amount of times he had to bail out and save any of them that got into a tight spot, and how fast they completed the missions. He sighed heavily as he realized how difficult the decision would be.

Koganegawa’s thoughts added extra stress on his mind making him lean more heavily towards an defensive strategy. Though it was true they hadn’t had any casualties in their practice sessions, they had many close calls. Koji’s remarks on their performance suggested they had much room for improvement in the defense department. As a team with three people focused more on attacking more than defending, holes in their defense were constant and consistent. Goshiki flipped through successive reports and noticed that Koji continued to make such comments. Goshiki stopped when he read a very frank comment, “The disregard of the attackers for defenses will eventually lead to the death of Kei, the sole defender.”

Goshiki sighed as he leaned back in his chair taking in the comment. He moved to flip open the computer as he pulled up the video of their match from today. He smiled once it played and he saw himself perform a very flashy sword skill, sparks flying out in all directions as his blade made contact with metallic reptilian scales. He shook his head from side to side as he remembered what he meant to do. While Goshiki and Shouyou were hacking away at the main creature on the field, Kei was left to send a flurry of bullets towards the bird like creatures that threatened to fly into both Shouyou and Goshiki. Behind Kei was a human sized two-legged velociraptor like creature that clawed at him. He deployed a hexagonal energy shield that held up to the repeated thrusts. However, he noticed Kei’s breathing growing ragged as he split his attention between holding up the shield as well as continuing to unleash a volley of bullets. Goshiki turned the video off as he turned back to Koji’s report. As he reached the concluding remarks line, he knew what Koji’s comment would be. As he read it, his suspicions were confirmed.

“How could I be so dumb,” Goshiki cried internally. He slammed the binder closed, loud noise rattling the pencils in his eagle shaped pencil holder. He grabbed a pencil and quickly scribbled his thoughts about the strategy for tomorrow.

“Goshiki?” Shouyou said softly.

Goshiki stopped his writing as he turned to Shouyou’s bed. Shouyou, breathing softly, appeared to be in between being sleep and awake. Goshiki didn’t say anything as he got up to Shouyou’s side of the room. He calmed down as he looked at how Shouyou was able to sleep so quickly. As he looked to his face, he smiled warmly as he noticed how excited Shouyou seemed even while asleep. He grabbed the orange and black covers on Shouyou’s bed and gently moved them up to cover Shouyou’s bare stomach.

As Goshiki left Shouyou’s side, his wrist band gently pulsed. He looked to it as it flashed MIDNIGHT in red letters. As a result of high school students often leading lives where they would stay up until the wee hours of the morning and waking up very early on the next day for classes, Shiratorizawa needed a way to enforce and ensure that its members were getting the recommended amount of sleep each night. Mission performance by undersleeped individuals was threatening the safety of the defense force.  Unable to manually monitor the rooms of every member of the Shiratorizawa force, the leaders installed this sleep alert system into the wrist bands of every defender. Once midnight struck, it would continue to pulse until the wearer went to sleep. Mission efficiency greatly increased once this feature was installed.

Goshiki threw off his shirt as he went to lay in his bed. After pulling up his purple and black covers over him, he clapped to turn the lights off and quickly drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The premise made it appear that I just decided to randomly have my favorite characters going to my favorite school in the manga...but there was actually a reason I did it. Though beyond plot reasons, as a TsukiHina fan, I did want to have them stick together in Shiratorizawa. Never forget the training camp!!!1
> 
> \--
> 
> Looking back, this seemed to perhaps be the end of the first week of Nano for the year I did this. I was actually going pretty strong but there were points where I was struggling to reach the daily word count. I think its kind of clear at times where stuff was written here just to get me to the count (for example the description of the restaurant), which is kind of funny to think about looking back, but it did give me a few extra hundred words. I was going to edit it out here, but I decided to keep it just to look back, and I think it describes the setting well. 
> 
> I highly suggest participating in the event at least once or twice.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mission preparations are set and ready!

“Koganegawa, you had us worried,” Koji exclaimed as Koganegawa rushed through the glass black opaque doors of the CIC. Goshiki, pacing back and forth, stopped mid stride as he looked in relief.

“We were trying to get Kei to go back and wake you,” Shouyou said as he stood by Koji.

“Goshiki looked like he was about to have a heart attack,” Kei added.

“I wasn’t going to. I knew he would come,” Goshiki countered fiercely.

“Goshiki?” Koganegawa asked. “I was just.”

Kei interrupted and stated, “I already told him how you were basically high wired and up all night.”

“Why did you tell him?” Koganegawa rushed to Goshiki, grabbing his hands in panic. “I’m sorry!”

Goshiki looked as if he didn’t know what to even do.

“Ouch,” Koganegawa stated, quickly letting loose of Goshiki’s hands. He rubbed his neck bending it at a weird angle.

“How can you fall asleep in your chair?” Shouyou asked.

“I didn’t plan to sleep there, Shouyou.”

“Ahem,” a voice coming from the surround sound speakers quickly got everyone’s attention. The five boys quickly sat in the black plush chairs as the lights in the CIC dimmed. Ground level green lights glowed dimly, lighting up subsequently. Eyes followed the lights as they formed a path towards the front wall in the room. The wall gently pulsed a light green. Soon it parted in the middle as green and blue particles came to life in the now visible space. The pulsing of the light continued growing in intensity.  The particles aligned themselves forming a wall a few feet in front of the seats. Soon the particles were pulsing as well. Once fully aligned and in sync an image was generated. An information panel with a map of an area in one corner of the screen, a profile of a large velociraptor class reptilian otherworld creature on one corner of the screen, and another larger tyrannosaurus class reptilian otherworldly creature on another corner of the screen.

“Good morning, Shiratorizawa-3,” an older male voice stated.

“Good morning,” Goshiki responded a bit on the fast side.

“Your mission, to place these devices on the locations marked on the map,” four brick sized black boxes stood on a platform rising from the center of the floor. On the corners of the boxes, green lights pulsed gently.

“These devices will extend our automatic sensing network in the north quadrant of a recently suppressed marina zone. Your successful completion of the mission will enable the development of new housing for currently displaced residents.”

“Requesting mission warnings, sir,” Goshiki stated.

“Altercations with Velociraptor-class hostiles is expected. Please exercise caution when engaging these hostiles. Tyranno-class hostiles may roam the area. Shiratorizawa-3 is not permitted to engage. Evasive maneuvers are advised. Aborting the mission is not allowed.”

“But we’ve,” Koganegawa quickly spoke up.

“Thank you,” Goshiki said cutting off Koganegawa’s protest.

“Equip your loadouts, then proceed to the mobile carrier. Dismissed.” Once the transmission ended, the particles, now liberated from their electrical field, flew out in all directions. Any that interacted with any objects in the room exploded into smaller green particles.

As the overhead lights turned back on to full brightness, Koganegawa was the first to jump up. He immediately turned to Goshiki, protest clearly written on his face.

“We’ve fought Tyranno-classes all the time in practice. Why do we have to run away like a scared cat?” Koganegawa huffed. “You should have told them.”

“Eliminating hostiles isn’t what the mission is about,” Kei said as he intervened.

“If we don’t kill them, who will?”

“Someone else? Someone more qualified.”

“We are qualified.”

“I give up.” Kei threw his hands up as he walked towards the door.

“Kei wait up,” Shouyou exclaimed as he followed behind him.

“This isn’t the time for this,” Goshiki added as he too went towards the door.

“This is the perfect time for this. We can tell them that we want to fight if we happen to run into it.”

“We are not going to fight. We are going to go in, complete our mission, and get out.”

“Why are you all so against fighting, so against the challenge?” Koganegawa asked, voice only falling on the ears of Koji and Goshiki.

“I have my reasons,” Goshiki turned away from Koganegawa. “Now come on, and grab the boxes.”

“Right.”

\--

The mobile carrier was a tractor trailer sized flat platform capable of hovering several hundred feet in the air. Fortified by several energy force fields it was currently the most efficient and convenient way of transporting infantry through the city. The boy’s minds wandered as they looked at the city from above. There was a world of difference between the locations of the region that they had managed to suppress and those that didn’t. People roamed the streets in large numbers as they enjoyed the recently planted scenery on this cool morning. Trees and bushes rustled as a calm breeze blew over them. Store owners moved to position their signs outside their storefronts. Restaurant owners set up booths outside their stores ready to hand out free samples to any passersby. Cars and buses traveled along the newly paved roads carrying businessmen or school children to their places of work and learning. All things considered, signs of a normal life seemed to be on full display. As they left the suppressed area, any sign of normalcy was gone. Only the occasional store or house along with the rare subway station was seen. Beyond the walls around these areas, it looked as if the city had become a wasteland.  Downed trees, crumbling buildings, and crackled and cackled earth were defining features of the land. A herd of wild deer ran across one meadow that struggled to thrive, however, one deer, lagging behind, was immediately caught by a Velociraptor-class entity. It clawed the downed creature, splitting it apart instantly. Spewed blood spattered completely covering some of the grass around it. The herd of deer scattered in multiple directions as more Velociraptor-classes rushed on them. It was a futile effort as most of them were quickly brought down to the ground. 

Goshiki’s mind raced over the many variables that could cause deviations in the strategy he would employ for the day. One misstep, one overeager team member, even one unanticipated enemy could thwart everything he prepared for. This was not a practice shuffle or an exhibition match for virtual credits to excel in a meaningless internal rankings system set forth by the institution, this was real life. The betterment of life was on the line. Loss of life was a real risk.

“Visors on,” Goshiki said as an icon flashed on his wrist band.

“Alright,” the three boys said in unison.

Battle visors were attachments to the head that were required for field combat. These tactical information displays showed enemy data in real time with the capacity to track the enemy on the field. Possessing special functionality with a network of interlinked boxes forming the automatic sensing network, these displays could recreate three dimensional visuals of the field. Interiors of buildings were able to be realized enabling greater depth to the strategies employed by teams. Further functionality included markers on the mini-map on the visor showing the location of and health of all team members giving team leaders vital information for their team’s vitality.  And for those defenders in need of correctional eyewear, the visors came with lens that, with the power of miniature processors, corrected the eyesight instantly. It was a profound innovation.

Kei and Shouyou wore matching battle suits. The orange rectangular lens of their battle visors were a special issue exclusive to Karasuno. Maintaining their ties to their old schools, Kei and Shouyou continued to wear portions of their battle suits. The battle visor was but one small part of the outfit. Black sneakers accented with orange wings and orange laces paired with black ankle length socks were the choice of footwear they chose. They wore black shorts that stopped a few inches above their knees. Orange trimming on the shorts as well as very thin orange diagonal stripes on the shorts served not only as apparel design choices but also as protection. The trimming contained nanomachines that were able to swiftly fortify the strength of the material upon impact from foreign objects. In laboratory tests, the shorts were able to withstand the impact of a speeding train, of course, no one tested them while wearing them. However, even when defenders suffered injury on the battlefield, the shorts and the portions of the leg they covered never suffered any damage. An orange undershirt was paired with a lightweight short-sleeved jacket of the same design and material as the shorts. On the back of the jacket one could see either the name TSUKISHIMA KEI or HINATA SHOUYOU surrounded, in circular fashion, an image of a crow. Above the hem of the jacket were the names, Goshiki Tsutomu, Koganegawa Kanji, Hinata Shouyou, Tsukishima Kei, and Koji Sekimukai written in cursive letters.  Goshiki’s name was in purple, Koganegawa’s in green, Shouyou and Kei’s in orange, and Koji’s in white.

Focusing on an iron wall defense, Datekougyou lacked the aesthetic that Karasuno and even Shiratorizawa prided themselves on. Koganegawa’s battle visor was a oval shaped standard issue set with no enhancements to speak of. His outfit however, featured footwear that were black calf length boots that had forest green accents. Instead of shorts, he wore black cargo pants with forest green pockets. Trimming on the pants, fortified with nanomachines, were a deep shade of forest green that almost blended into being black. His white sleeveless t-shirt lacked any special features but provided him with comfort and maneuverability that made him feel loose and free. He slung a long sleeved jacket across his shoulders. For him he didn’t go with a symbol in the center of the jacket, opting to go for a plain style. However, above the hem of the jacket, the names of his team members were written in cursive.

As the tactician, Koji wore the bare minimum in protection. On field he would only be stationed with the mobile carrier. Thus comfort trumped function. He wore the standard issue Shiratorizawa Academy athletic clothes. The black track suit was enhanced with only enough nanomachines to enable comfortable temperature control for the wearer. Black sneakers with purple trim was his footwear of choice. Similar to Koganegawa his visor was a standard issue.

Goshiki Tsutomu wore a modified standard issue battle visor enhanced for a captain. It enabled the use of split-screen. This special feature allowed him to view three displays at once, the one linked to the main Shiratorizawa CIC that contained an expanded map of the area, the complete tactical and strategy guide for the otherworldly creatures, and extensive data about the battle history of his team members. He could also utilize the screen that the field tactician, Koji, used enabling him to swap his field of view quickly with that of any of his team members essentially placing him on the field in their shoes. Goshiki wore purple very low top canvas slip-ons. Not liking the feeling of socks, he didn’t wear any. He wore a pair of black thigh length shorts fortified completely with nanomachines. These special shorts increasing mobility and speed ten-fold. He paired these shorts with regular purple compression shorts that stopped a few inches above his knee. Liking the extra support, they gave him, he believed it greatly enhanced his performance. He wore a dark purple short sleeved t-shirt. Black stripes formed a ring around the hem on the arms of the sleeves as well as the hem of the shirt itself. On top of the shirt, he wore a sleeves black jacket. On the back of the jacket was white embroidery of an eagle sticking one of its talons out to dig at at an insect in the ground. It looked fierce, powerful, and majestic. Around the eagle was Goshiki Tsutomu (in a shade of light purple). Above the hem of the jacket were his team members’ names in purple.

As the mobile carrier landed, Goshiki and Koji quickly stood by a wooden crate that rose from the floor at the center of the mobile carrier.

“I will take the Asteroid,” Goshiki stated as he grabbed two pulsing white cubes. Once he touched them they shrunk from their watermelon size down to the size of his palm. He moved them over the wrist band on his arm.

“Asteroid paired,” a computerized female voice stated. “Goshiki Tsutomu, authorization permitted. Meteora, authorization permitted.”

“Kei and Shouyou, you’re both using the Scorpion,” Koji handed two short swords to each of the boys. “Don’t forget to use your shields.”

“Yes,” they said in unison. They moved to pair their Scorpion’s to their wrist bands.

Koganegawa looked on in silence as he saw Goshiki reach into the crate. As the hilt of what looked like a large sword emerged, he struggled to keep his squeal under control. The sounds caused Kei, Koji, and Shouyou to drop what they were doing to check out the unfolding scene.

“Is that what I think it is?” Shouyou said as he moved closer to the crate.

“It should be,” Kei responded.

“He’s so lucky, I wanted it.” Shouyou sighed disappointedly.

“It’s not about luck,” Kei said as he went back to adjust the positioning of his Scorpion blades.

“Skill? I just used it yesterday, wasn’t I good enough?” Shouyou said as he couldn’t take his eyes away.

“You were good, but you weren’t as good as Koganegawa,” Koji added. “I can show you the video where the difference between your abilities were clear.”

“You’re better with the shorter blades, since you know, your lack of height,” Kei said slyly.

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Shouyou said as he crinkled his face as if agitated.

“I gave you a compliment,” Kei said.

“That was not a compliment,” Shouyou facepalmed.

“And Koganegawa you’re on Kogetsu,” Goshiki said as he held out a sword at least three times the size of the short blade Kei and Shouyou received.

“Whoa, really?” Koganegawa said as he swiftly grabbed them from Goshiki. “I mean really, shouldn’t the captain have this?”

“No, it’s what we decided,” Goshiki said as he eyed Koji.

“But,” Koganegawa said as he looked at the sword in his hand and Goshiki. He seemed confused on whether he should be in joy or be remorseful.

“Don’t worry about it Koganegawa. I’m great with all weapons,” Goshiki smirked. “I’m comfortable with Asteroid. It’s also cooler and flashier.”

“Captain hot shot, gentlemen,” Kei, with hand over his mouth, hid his laugh as he pointed to Goshiki. Koji joined him in chuckling.

A distant roar immediately brought all smiles and laughs to an end. Amidst the fading sound of the roar, only the sound of wind blowing across the dusty land was heard. Shouyou’s loud gulp brought them back to speaking.

“That sounded more ominous than it did in training,” Koganegawa spoke.

“Getting nervous?” Goshiki asked with much concern.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” he said softly.

“What’s a little roar?” Shouyou said in a much higher pitch than normal. Goshiki turned to look but only saw him peaking from behind Kei.

“I don’t think I can provide that much safety,” Kei said as he turned around to face Shouyou.

“What? What are you talking about?” Shouyou asked frantically, swift arm movements quickly giving away his fear.

Another roar quickly shut everyone up. Shouyou moved even closer to Kei, face nearly buried in the back of his shirt. Meanwhile Koganegawa seemed to become light headed, stumbling as the vibration from a distant walking gigantic reptile rattled the bed of the platform.

“We can turn back,” Goshiki said after taking note of his member’s insecurities.

“N-n-no, we can’t do that,” Shouyou said, voice still several octaves higher than normal.

“Then let’s go,” Goshiki said. He proceeded to take a step forward but found himself almost tripping over a piece of the bed that stuck upwards. As he caught himself mid fall he chuckled attempting to make it look like nothing was amiss. Kei couldn’t be fooled as he only stared deeply at Goshiki. Goshiki could feel his eyes peering deep into his soul. He regretted taking such swift action.  Attention was quickly brought to the terrain. Battle visors glowed to life as a red shaped warning symbol glowed at the top of the screen. A map layered on top of the visible terrain, warning symbol blinking swiftly showing structural damage. A large multistory building was seen coming crumbling down. The ground shook violently causing the bed of the platform to vibrate harshly.

Shouyou yelped as he wrapped his arms around Kei hanging on for all his life. Kei struggled to maintain his balance but tumbled over with the added Shouyou’s weight. Pain quickly shot through his back as he landed hard. Shouyou, cushioned by Kei felt nothing.

“This is not looking good,” Koji shouted as he held onto the railing. Grip tightening, his knuckles started to turn red.

“Why is this happening, isn’t this supposed to be a safe area?” Koganegawa shouted as the shaking continued. The battle visor continued to blink as more of the building continued to fall to the ground.

“We really need to go, now!” Goshiki shouted as he grabbed two backpacks. He extended a hand to Kei once he reached him.

“Shouyou, let’s go!” Goshiki repeated.

“We’re safer here,” he cried.

“No we’re not, open your eyes!” Goshiki cried out.

The moment he did the battle visor displayed a skull and crossbones shape.’

“What is this even?” Koganegawa cried from where he stood.

“It’s coming!” Goshiki cried, grabbing Kei’s hand and pulling him and Shouyou upwards. Kei managed to get his footing as Shouyou was dragged upwards. Realizing the situation at hand, Shouyou followed after Goshiki and Kei as they hopped off the transport.

Koji moved over to Koganegawa and pulled him along.

“The bag, don’t forget the bag,” Goshiki cried over their internal ear pieces.

“Got it,” Koganegawa turned around, leaning over to grab two more backpacks.

\--

“Sorry about this Koji, but it looks like you’ll be tagging along with us,” Goshiki stated once they grouped up in an abandoned supermarket.

“Looks like that difficulty rating for this was a lie,” Koji joked. “But seriously, I think we just came at a bad time or location. Which is strange considering we haven’t even left the automatic sensing network.”

“What do we do captain?” Kei said as he rubbed his sore back.

“We can only do one thing, go with the mission. Just hope the transport doesn’t get destroyed so we can make it back,” Goshiki stated affirmatively.

“Split up or stay together?” Koganegawa asked.

Goshiki looked to Koji for assistance.

“It’s your decision captain, just remember I’m now a pawn that can be used.”

“Chess?” Shouyou asked back to his old self.

“We stay together until we reach the mission area, from there we split up. Koji with Koganegawa. I’ll go with Kei and Shouyou. Two mission boxes each. Confirm.” Goshiki pressed a button on his wrist band.

Immediately the confirmation prompt appeared on everyone’s wristband.

“Mission updated,” the computerized female voice spoke. “Approval granted.”

“Gear up!” Goshiki stated.

Two of the backpacks were emptied. Anyone who wasn’t already wearing a pair of fingerless gloves grabbed them. Kneepads were put on immediately. Elbow pads were provided but only Kei and Shouyou wore them.

“We’re ready,” Koji stated.

“Seems like it stopped,” Goshiki stated as he realized there was were no more vibrations.

“You’re right,” Shouyou said as he jumped around.

“Calm down and save that energy for later,” Kei added.

“We’ll take a five-minute breather and then proceed with the mission,” Goshiki stated after realizing Kei seemed to still be in a bit of pain.

“Thank you,” Koji said softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rough chapter IMO, I got too into it with the outfit descriptions but I think theyre all cute, but yeah I editted and editted and just couldnt get it to the way I wanted but the ideas are there and the conversation is there so Im pleased to add it. Lets go on to some action and more character interactions.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that things have calmed down, our protagonist go off to complete their mission.

Traversing the terrain on foot proved to be an easy task. With no odd vibrations, or buildings crumbling, or even roars, the journey was as difficult as a walk through a rosy garden. Speaking of which, it appeared that the throughway that led into the marina was actually a large open park area for the city. The building that fell bordered this garden. A large satellite dish from the top of this building rolled around a portion of the garden. Solar panels on the roof crushed several plots containing many cultivars of yellow wildflowers. Shards of glass dug into some of the few areas of soft soil, some trees and bushes were uprooted, revealing many exposed roots full of clumps of dirt still falling to the ground, various creepy crawlers falling and scurrying on the ground, and some blueberries leaking juice covering and coating the ground in a delectable blue color.

“This is refreshing,” Shouyou said as he took in a huge whiff of the fresh ocean air. The sound of waves meeting the shore served as music to their ears. Seagulls made their calls as they flew overhead fully delighting in the clear skies. Occasionally one would walk on the ground close to the boys and take interest in their shoes.

“Shoo shoo,” Koganegawa said as he moved his shoe to displace one such curious bird.

“Aw don’t do that,” Shouyou responded as he giggled.

“It’s annoying.” Kei responded.

“What got you all cranky?”

“A certain scared shortie who was hiding behind me like a little kid earlier,” Kei said.

Shouyou blushed immediately turning his face away from the group. “I was not scared. I was in need of support from falling. You were as tall as a tree so I thought I could stay upright if I held onto you.”

“I’m supposed to believe that?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a funny joke. You should go into comedy.’

“Focus guys,” Koji intervened with a heavy sigh.

“So let’s split up. You all take the north end,” Goshiki said while pointing towards the northward shops and docks, “and we’ll take the other side.”

“Good luck,” Koji said as he pat Goshiki on the back. “Those two might be a handful. I didn’t know they were like this in action.”

“I got it,” Goshiki said almost annoyed. “Coordinates for the box locations are with Koji. Koganegawa follow his command. And remember, do not engage hostiles you can’t handle.”

“But I’m strong enough for it,” Koganegawa tightly gripped his Kogetsu. The sword whizzed to life as it glowing brightly.

Goshiki quickly pulled Koganegawa closer, essentially growling. “Koji has no weapons. You must protect him.”

“I know, alright,” Koganegawa said as he removed Goshiki’s grip from his shirt.

“Then listen to me.”

“I got it.”

\--

“Mission Time, One Hour,” the computerized voice said in Kei, Shouyou, and Goshiki’s ears.

“That was a fast hour,” Shouyou spoke as he positioned the black box on the edge of the pier.

“Safe too,” Kei added as he held it in place.

“That about does it,” Goshiki added as he input administrator codes into the unit. It instantly paired to his device. After signing in using his captain credentials it was immediately added to the automatic sensing network. It began to pulse a blight blue color as it emitted a low whirring sound.

“One down, one to go,” Goshiki stated as he fell backwards landing on the wooden dock with a thud.

“We can sit down, finally?” Shouyou exclaimed as he followed suit.

Kei did as well but didn’t say anything.

“Situation report, Koganegawa.” Goshiki said as he spoke clearly. The ear piece picked him up and transmission sending it through to Koganegawa.

“Box is connected. Do your thing!”

“Got it.”

“Protect me,” Goshiki stated flatly.

“We will,” Kei said with a yawn.

“There’s nothing out here,” Shouyou added.

Goshiki’s field of view quickly became integrated with Koganegawa’s. He immediately began typing on his screen to transmit commands through the connected battle visor displays to the box on Koganegawas side of the field. The box came to life as it recognized the connection.

\--

“Transmitting,” the computerized voice stated. “15%”

“Captain,” Koji called out.

“Transmitting, 25%,” the computerized voice stated.

“Captain,” Koji called out again, this time sounding a bit more distant.

“Transmitting, 31%”, the computerized voice stated.

“Once linked he can’t move or hear you,” Koganegawa stated.

“This is a problem. You do hear them closing in?”

“I do, but what can we do?”

“Leave the visor, or take my sword and fight?”

“What?”

“That’s the only option.”

“That’s not what I was hoping for.”

“What else can we do?”

“We run!”

“Right!”

\--

Goshiki ended the playback recording.

Shouyou and Kei looked as if they’d just seen a ghost. Though he successfully set up the box, there was much to worry about. Communication with Koganegawa and Koji ceased. The three of them continued to try to establish contact but all they received was static. Goshiki attempted to remotely connect to their battle visors, but Koji’s refused to respond. Connecting with Koganegawa’s only returned the image of the box safe and sound.

“We shouldn’t have split,” he cried as he paced around the dock.

“It’s not your fault,” Kei added. “You followed the mission.”

“Screw the mission, we need Koganegawa and Koji.”

“He’s right, Kei.”

“I’m just saying don’t beat yourself up. Do we continue the mission, or go after them?”

“We, uhm, we will?” Goshiki walked around in circles confused at what to do.

“Goshiki?” Shouyou asked.

“Here, I’ve plotted our path to reach them. If we take a small detour, we can quickly setup the last box and then race towards them,” Kei said as he sent the map to Goshiki’s visor.

“Thanks,” Goshiki said as he set markers on the battle visor for the two locations.

\--

“This box is set, let’s go!” Goshiki shouted as he ran off.

“Wait up,” Kei said amidst heavy breathing.

“Time is running out,” Goshiki responded.

Shouyou thrust Kei a water bottle as he remained silent.

“You need to rest too,” Kei said after taking a full squirt of water.

“I’m fine,” Goshiki responded as he looked on in the distance. It was hard to focus on the Ferris wheel they stood beside. The pictures of yellow ducks painted on the side of the booths, the smiling suns that looked like they came from a sticker book, and even the smiling happy faces did little to improve his mood.

“Tsk,” Kei sounded as he looked to Goshiki staring mindlessly in the distance.

“What is it?” Goshiki spat.

“Sit,” Kei stated as he grabbed Goshiki by the hand and pulled him down. Goshki resisted at first but eventually gave in to sitting.

“I don’t have.”

“Stop it,” Kei said firmly.

Goshiki whimpered but soon quieted.

“Breath in and out slowly.”

Goshiki found that his breathing soon fell in line with the waves lapping against the shoreline below the pier. Back and forth, in and out. The air filled his lungs and soon he found his eyes starting to close. He fought to keep his eyes open and his conscious steady but it fled. Moments later he was jerked awake.

“Ready?” Goshiki opened his eyes to Shouyou peering right at him. Not even a foot separated them. Shouyou, on his knees smiled as Goshiki came back to the world of the awake.

“Wait,” Goshiki said groggily, not even startled by the close proximity, “How long as I out for?”

“If I told you, you wouldn’t want to know,” Kei said as he stretched his arms.

“He’ll just check his visor anyway.”

“That’s true.”

Goshiki stood and yawned too. As he looked at the battle visor, he realized it was already early evening.

“We’ve rested long enough,” Goshiki stretched causing his speaking to be drawn out. The drawl made Shouyou giggle. “First we recover Koganegawa’s battle visor, then we, trace their movements. That felt good.”

“Agreed,” Shouyou said still laughing.

“Ditto,” Kei said.

“Shiratorizawa-3, move out.”

\--

Reaching Koganegawa’s abandoned standard issue battle visor proved to be an easy, albeit wet task. Wading through shallow water, the three boys reached a tugboat laying on its side easily. Water up to their knees, wet the hem of their shorts.

“Watch your feet,” Goshiki cried out from a closet in the back of the tugboat.

“Got it,” Shouyou said as he drew nearer.

“Should have said that earlier,” Kei cried out.

A loud ping and a thud rang out as he leaned on the side of a metal bench in what looked to be a lounge area.

“Sorry,” Goshiki shouted.

“If only words could heal this wound,” Kei responded. Another thud rang out.

“What’s all that noise?” Goshiki asked as he looked around the dark closet.

“He’s trying to rub his toe, I can’t see any blood,” Shouyou shouted.

Goshiki turned around and noticed Shouyou holding Kei’s foot. Examining it for the smallest detail, he held it close to his face. After a few moments of silence and Shouyou groaning in deep concentration, Kei began to wiggle his toes, sending water droplets right onto Shouyou’s face.

“Stop it!” Shouyou dropped Kei’s foot immediately as he rubbed the water off his face. It was ineffective as his arms and hands were already wet from wading through the water.

“I was just checking to see if I could still move them,” Kei took a step forward than winced in pain again.

“What do you keep stepping on?” Shouyou crouched as he moved his hand around in the water.  “I think I got it,” he pulled something out of the water that glowed in the very dim light filtered through the sole open doorway.

“Why is a fork in here?” Kei asked as he took it.

“Maybe they ate in here?”

“Silverware on a moving boat, in a shelf? Everyone knows you don’t bring silverware on a ship, and worst, storing it in a sliding drawer.”

“How did you figure a sliding drawer?”

“Ask the bruise on my other foot.”

Shouyou moved his hand signaling for Kei to lift up.

“I don’t need to do that,” Kei responded.

“Why?

“Because I know it’s fine.”

“It’s not fine, now raise up,” Shouyou said.

Kei hesitantly lifted his leg. Shouyou grabbed it. He brought it up to face level and peered deeply at it. Noticing a strange mark, he rubbed one of his fingers along the underside of Kei’s foot. Kei tried to keep his laugh down but he couldn’t. Mischievously, Shouyou continued move his fingers along in a sensual manner causing Kei to laugh so much that he hit his head on the back wall. Shouyou kept it up too until he started giggling.

“Hey,” Kei said between breaths of laugh.

“What?” Shouyou said between his laughs.

“Can I put it down now?”

“Huh, why would I do that, I’m still examining it,” Shouyou said, he looked oddly focused on moving his hand along Kei’s foot albeit in a gentle manner.

“The bruise isn’t under my foot,” Kei said.

“I knew that!” Shouyou said as he let Kei lower his leg.

“Alright, I see it,” Goshiki said. Kei, holding Shouyou’s hand, navigated through the silverware shallows safely to Goshiki.

As they peered into the closet, the box, sitting in a cubbyhole in a shelf mere inches above the water, pulsated gently as if nothing was amiss. Next to it, the well-worn condition of the battle visor gave no indications that there was ever harm or danger inflicted on it in a time of great panic.

“Where do you think they went?” Shouyou asked.

“There’s nowhere to hide in here,” Goshiki noted as he picked up the battle visor.

“That explains why they might have left. You wouldn’t want to be trapped in a closet like a dumb character in a horror movie,” Kei still holding Shouyou’s hand followed closely behind Shouyou and Goshiki.

“So we know they left, but now we need to know why and where,” Goshiki said just before going underwater to get out from the doorway of the tugboat.

“Oh it’s like we’re detectives,” Shouyou exclaimed excitedly. The rushed feelings of a new experience quickly energizing him.

“Just keep looking,” Kei, independent once again, made motions as if to look but realized it was an effort in vain. Glasses completely soaked from the underwater excursion blocked him from seeing anything.

“We’re over here, Kei,” Goshiki stated from a distance. Shouyou, realizing that Kei was farther away than he thought, swam over to him.

“I got you,” Shouyou said as he grabbed hold of Kei’s hand once more.  

Kei, red dusting his face ever so slightly, gripped Shouyou’s hand comfortably. No words were said as he let himself be guided to their captain.

“We’re almost ashore,” Goshiki picked up his pace. Now able to feel the sand in between his toes, he made haste to emerge from the water.

“This was wetter than I expected it to be,” Kei said. Hands free from Shouyou again, he wiped away his glasses with the one towel Goshiki happened to have.

“Too bad it’s too damp to dry any of us off,” Shouyou said as he pouted.

“I don’t have space to carry that much stuff. The bag isn’t that big,” Goshiki mentioned while pointing at the small drawstring bag beside their shoes. This served as the first-aid kit they could carry on their missions. Apart from the usual bandages, swabs, antiseptics, and gauze, a towel was provided for a reason that Goshiki couldn’t even think about. Drying themselves was probably not the proper use of the towel, but it was all that they had.

“Or our feet,” Kei said as he tried to towel off the sand on his feet and legs.

“It’s just sand,” Goshiki said as he put his shoes back on.

Kei and Shouyou grimaced at the sight.

“How is that even comfortable?” Kei asked in shock.

“What do you mean?” Goshiki responded. “I don’t feel anything.”

“Isn’t it all grainy and rough?” Shouyou asked.

“No?” Goshiki asked questioningly.

Both Shouyou and Kei shook their heads.

“Are you two not going to put your shoes on?” He asked them.

“I’m fine,” Shouyou said as he walked along the pavement barefoot.

Kei nodded as he did the same.

“Skghhhhhh,” faintly came from their ear pieces.

“What, what was that sound?” Shouyou asked as he stopped walking.

“What sound?” Goshiki asked, mind coming back to this beachside walk.

“Skghhhhhh,” louder this time.

“Koji?” Goshiki said cautiously.

“Cap?” Koji said hoarsely.

“Koji, what happened to you?” Goshiki asked.

“We need…Cap…” Koji said. It sounded as if he was losing his voice.

“Where are you?” Goshiki practically screamed.

“Cap, Koga,” and with that the sound from the earpiece vanished. Shouyou gripped onto Goshiki’s arms tightly. Fear written all over his face, he looked dreadful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Monday and another chapter. I found my pace again so I really like how this chapter turned out. 
> 
> I also seemed to have been really into it, there were little to no fixes I needed to make in this. Its times like this when Nanowrimo can be fun.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goshiki, HInata, and Tsukishima finally get in contact with Koganegawa, however...

“Let’s just keep going and see what happens?” Kei suggested shivering at the sudden chill in the air.

“See what happens?” Goshiki said. “We already know what happens next.”

“What does?” Shouyou asked.

“We won’t let that happen,” Kei answered.

They walked much faster on the paved pathway lining the beach. Abandoned beach toys and wrappers of years old snacks began to appear on the beach as they continued. As they passed a sprinkler, perfect for washing sand off the body, Kei and Shouyou ignored it, focusing in on finding their abandoned team mates.

“Shoes on,” Goshiki whispered.

“Got it,” Shouyou answered. The end of the developed beach gave way to a more natural habitat. Beach turtles walked over the sand that was brightly sparkling in the light of the setting sun. Tufts of grass danced in the gentle breeze. Ocean waves, now mere inches tall, crept ever upwards on the beach, then back to the water. Beach bird’s intent on walking over the sand to find food, stopped once the boys invaded their territory. They stared at them as if they were about to harm them. Soon they flew away.

“Are these claw prints?” Shouyou asked as he sat down in the sand while putting his socks on.  He immediately pointed to the nearly two-foot long indention in the sand.

Goshiki and Kei moved closer to examine.

“Analyze,” Kei said as he moved closer to Shouyou to get the claw print in the line of sight.

“Velociraptor-class, 90% match,” the computerized woman voice stated. A 3D render of the creature came into view on Kei’s field of view. It immediately zoomed in to the foot of the creature. It blinked, then manipulated the image so that it was placed directly over the claw print in the sand.

“Look there’s more,” Shouyou, wearing only one sock, followed the claw print to a mass of several others.

“Analyze,” Kei as he followed him.

“Estimation, 30 velociraptor-class,” she said.

“Captain, we have a problem,” Kei said as he gave Goshiki the situation report.

“High-Resolution Detection, Engage!” Goshiki yelled immediately slamming his fist on his wrist band. Immediately, green particles flowed brightly on his wrist band. “HRD-Mode,” appeared in the corners of all of their battle visors. The minimap on the screen immediately decreased in size. However, the visible objects on their field of view increased. They could see everything in a 1-mile radius.

A symbol, the white plus sign on a red background, appeared in the northwest area of their display. It blinked rapidly, indicating a distress signal had gone out. Shouyou, Kei, and Goshiki looked to each other in silent understanding of the situation at hand. Shouyou dashed off first, leaving one of his shoes and socks behind. Meanwhile, Kei quickly energized his shield using his wristband. Goshiki, quickly deployed his asteroid, the white palm-sized cubes quickly materialized in front of him.

“Defend and run, do not engage,” Goshiki shouted into his ear piece.

“Affirmative,” Kei stated as he trailed Shouyou.

“I think, he’s hurt,” Shouyou said as he suddenly stopped. “Over here.”

“Is that, blood?” Goshiki asked once he stood near Shouyou. On the ground in front of them was a massive pool of blood.

“It’s certainly not tomato juice,” Kei pinched his nose as he turned to face the other way.

Shouyou, struggling to keep his composure, gripped his stomach as he dashed away. Once a good distance they heard him expel the insides of his stomach out. Coughing violently.

“Go check on him,” Goshiki mouthed as he pointed towards Shouyou.

Kei nodded though looked grim.

Goshiki entertained thoughts of what might have happened. The creatures didn’t exactly bleed so the blood couldn’t have been from them. Either Koganegawa had been critically injured, which would explain why they couldn’t contact Koji, or Koji was the one injured, while Koganegawa was defending. Though where they were defending and how they could defend against 30 hostiles was something he didn’t want to dwell on. Two against 30, no, one against 30 were odds that were impossible for even the best defender ever. And if Koganegawa was attacking while completely unassisted with the battle, odds of getting out of there faded.

30, the number 30 stayed on his mind as he waited for Kei and Shouyou’s return. 30 hostiles. 30 mobile ferocious Velociraptor-class otherworldly beings. An endless battle of 30 enemies wasn’t out of the scope of their abilities, however 30 at once was. Anyone could take on 30 enemies if they came out of a door one at a time as they were defeated, but 30 bone rushing you at once? You might as well quit while you were ahead. Practically, the experience with training as a team of four against smaller groups of two or three enemies wasn’t out of the scope of their abilities. However, 30, that was too much.

Could tactics against a fleet of four be scaled up to one of 30? How does an injured teammate fit in to this? Koji wasn’t supposed to be on the field, he wasn’t dressed or even prepared for this. In terms of combat he wasn’t even rated beyond a trainee even. And with Koganegawa? Good attacker but prone to make mistakes by getting too caught up in the moment, why did he even allow him to watch over Koji?

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Kei gripping Shouyou’s shoulder stood in front of Goshiki who had wandered away from the blood on the ground. Out of sight from the blood, Shouyou, still visibly shaking, nodded in agreement.

“That is not an option,” Goshiki said softly.

“What did you say?” Kei stated.

“That is just not an option,” Goshiki said harshly. Shouyou stepped backwards in shock.

“Explain,” Kei asked cautiously.

Goshiki stood still mouth not moving. His teammates looked very eagerly at Goshiki. Goshiki shifted his stance, tensing up as he tried to avoid looking them in their faces. He focused on the distance, a baby turtle hatching from an egg caught his attention. As the head poked up from the cracked eggshell, its legs began to move upwards. The eggshell cracked into pieces as it tried to gain some traction upwards. It slipped back and tried again. To no avail it came back down again. Finally, upon trying again, it managed to get its legs out and emerge completely from the shell. Now, able to walk on the beach, it moved towards the ocean.

“We can’t get bailed out by another team,” Goshiki said calmly. “This is our mission, and we have to do it ourselves. We can’t rely on anyone else.”

“Are we even capable of doing it?” Kei, ever the realist, asked.

“Yes,” Shouyou and Goshiki said in unison.

“Where did this newfound conviction come from?” Kei chuckled.

“We can do it Kei, I know we can. Koji has lasted this long and probably because of Koganegawa’s tenacity. If we can even put in the same amount of effort, I know we can do this,” Shouyou’s eyes glistened in the fading daylight.

“Tenacity?” Kei smirked. “Is this the Shouyou I know? The Shouyou who can barely pass English Literature class?”

“You taught me the word,” Shouyou said as he looked agitated.

“I didn’t know you’d remember it.”

“Guys the distress signal is still going off.”

-

“I see them,” Shouyou whispered as he tiptoed back to the others. A metal shack on the top of a ridge overlooked a plain below. There in the center was Koji lying on an inflatable raft perched between two trees. Below, Koganegawa swung his Kogetsu at several Velociraptor-class. It was keeping them at a distance.

“We don’t have much time,” Shouyou continued to add. “His Kogetsu is already fading, and his sword swings lack their usual impact.” Shouyou said worriedly.

“I’ll fire off Meteora from here, you two go in from the sides,” Goshiki drew on the sand.  “Race in and race out to split them up. Tell Koganegawa to get Koji and get out of there.”

“Right.”

“We’ve only got one chance, so make it count,” Goshiki said as he looked to both Shouyou and Kei.

“Are you going in like that?” Kei looked to Shouyou as he pointed to his feet.

“That’d be a problem,” Shouyou kicked off his lone shoe and took his sock off. “Guess I’ll have to go in with no foot protection.”

“Stay safe,” Goshiki added.

\--

“Captain, is that you?” Koji awoke to the sound of his battle visor initiating the linked display mode. Goshiki, the only one on the team capable of initiating contact, utilized the display to get a hold on the hostile’s location.

“Initiating synchronized attack, be ready to disengage foes,” Goshiki said robotically.

“Get me out of here!” Koji wept. “Now!”

The view in front of him showed 30 ravenous velociraptor-class creatures closing in on the make shift defense compound. One daring creature extending its claw downwards ready to grip Koganegawa’s recently swung sword. The last of its electric shine died down just as soon as the claw made contact with the sword.

“Are you kidding me right now?” Koganegawa cried as he fell to one knee. The weight of the creature’s claw on his sword pushed his knee deep into the sand. He screamed in agony as he continued to bear the force of the claw. Trapped with no way to get out, he looked around in horror as more of the creatures moved in on him. Two more creatures extended their claws at his arms. He let loose of his sword as he gripped his shoulder. Blood trickled down his arm.

“Koji,” Koganegawa said between clenched teeth, “sorry man, this was my fault.”

A few more slashes from the creatures came upon him.

“Maybe these dummies won’t realize you’re up there,” he laughed as his arm grew limp.

Goshiki heard every word and quickly launched his Meteora assault. Several cubes materialized in the palm of his hand. He targeted each one to several of the creatures, each placed equidistantly apart. There wasn’t enough energy to hit every creature, however the goal wasn’t to kill them all. Simply put, the plan would disperse the enemies, splitting them up to give them time to extract Koji and now Koganegawa.

“Launch,” Goshiki moved several of his fingers. Immediately, the two palm sized cubes divided into three cubes each. They then sped away from Goshiki, opposite direction of the enemies. Once a good distance away they then flew 90 degrees upwards, then angled themselves directly aimed at the enemies. Another flick of his fingers caused the cubes to decide at light speed.  The enemies didn’t know what hit them. As soon as impact was made the dim scene quickly illuminated with the brightness of a hundred suns. White light blinded all who were in the area. Battle visors failed to provide visuals from the environment.

\--

“Shouyou, Kei, your move,” Goshiki screamed as he moved from the metal shed and into position. “I’ll handle Koganegawa and Koji.”

“Let’s do it,” Shouyou yelled. His feet kicked up tons of sand as he moved with a great burst of speed. To anyone looking through the battle visor, it seemed as if he vanished from the radar. His scorpion blades came to life once he got within eyesight of the Velociraptor-class hostiles. He screamed loudly, and turned sharply to the right. At one point, Kei, moving just as fast turned sharply to the left. They crossed paths, momentarily smirking at one another as they then turned the other direction, crossing paths once again. This time they jump upwards, then back down stomping as they made impact with two of the displaced Velociraptor-class hostiles. There was no time to be impressed with the squashed bodies of the enemies exploding into a burst of light dissipating into the sky of the sunset. 6 down, 24 more to go. They moved across the field once again, crossing paths and cutting the heads off of two more of the velociraptor class hostiles. Heads flew off of the reptiles as light dissipated from the decapitated heads and the still upright bodies. Another direction change brought them together once more. Now they raced forward at the same speed. The velocity caused some of the hostiles to be knocked over. Taking advantage of their confusion, Shouyou and Kei slashed at them. Each slash brought about more dissipating particles of light. Soon, the creatures exploded.

With half of the creatures eliminated, Goshiki raced in. The diversion from Metoera in addition to Shouyou and Kei’s assault gave him just enough time to navigate the field. Reaching Koji and Koganegawa was an effortless event.

“Can you stand?” Goshiki standing before the still kneeling Koganegawa asked.

“Goshiki, you came for us? You really came for us?” Watery eyes soon met an arm as Koganegawa looked upwards to Kei.

“Yeah, but this is no time to talk. I need you to stand,” Goshiki repeated.

“I can, but what about Koji?’”

“Situation report?” Goshiki questioned.

“I don’t know, I awoke to him standing over me and he was like that, heavy bleeding from his legs and arms, I carried him here and put him in this raft we saw between the trees.” Koganegawa pointed upwards.

“So he can’t walk?” Goshiki said softly. “Kei, Shouyou, we need you to buy us more time, can you do it?”

“We’ll see what we can do, they have regrouped,” Kei answered. Goshiki assumed Shouyou was too focused on the battle. As he glanced at the battlefield, he saw Shouyou in a one on three standoff with three of the hostiles. Kei, by virtue of a longer reach, was in a one on five standoff.

“We have to move, Koganegawa,” Goshiki mentioned. The remaining hostiles were closing in on their position fast.

“I can manage,” Koganegawa said. He positioned his sword upwards as it poked the inflatable raft. Air flowed out of it blowing the sand on the ground away. Holding his hand out, Goshiki caught Koji as he fell from the ever deflating raft.

“I got him,” Koganegawa said as he moved over to Goshiki. Goshiki positioned Koji on the taller Koganegawa’s back.

“Hold on,” Goshiki said to Koji who was still conscious. Koji tightened his legs around Koganegawa’s torso and his arm loosely around his neck.

“Koji do you even eat?” Koganegawa joked.

“Mhm,” Koji stated.

“Here,” Goshiki stated as he placed the battle visor over Koganegawa’s head.

“How did you find time to recover this?” Koganegawa asked after readjusteing Koji. He moved to readjust his battle visor with his one good hand.

“It’s a long story, maybe another time,” Goshiki waved him off. “Recovered, disengage.”

“Got it,” Shouyou shouted.

“On the way,” Kei shouted.

The markers on the display indicated Shouyou and Kei distancing themselves from the remaining hostiles. Meanwhile the hostiles that were closing in on Goshiki’s crew continued to move towards the deflating raft, completely captivated by the massive yellow plastic landing on the field below. Several clawed it. Many grew angry as their claws got caught in the thick puncture proof plastic. They made several eerie shrieks drawing more hostiles closer to their location.

“Theyre distracted, now’s the time,” Goshiki shouted.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our gang takes comfort in an abandoned supermarket, there they must make a decision, to ditch Koji or to bring him along.

“What do we do now?” Koganegawa asked. Sitting within the racks of an abandoned supermarket. Goshiki stared at the boys around. Night had fallen and the temperature dropped forcing them to take shelter on the field. Koji’s wounds were treated with the remaining first aid supplies in the store. Fortunately, people hadn’t raided the shelves when the town was attacked.  A makeshift campfire brought them much needed warmth, and much needed heat for cooking a few of the preservative heavy canned foods.

“I just want to go home,” Koji croaked. Bundled tightly in blankets he shivered as he stared up at the ceiling.

“The replacement transport won’t arrive until the morning,” Goshiki stated.

“That’s only assuming the distress signal from the craft was retrieved by headquarters,” Kei said in between slurping the spam over noodles in a can.

“There’s no reason it shouldn’t,” Koganegawa, laying on his back said as he closed his eyes. Arm in a sling, he was in one of the only comfortable positions he could find on the floor.

“Kei, do we still have time to plant the final box?” Goshiki asked as he turned to Kei.

“Reaching the final box location might be a stretch,” Kei looked towards Koganegawa and Koji.

“I can manage,” Koganegawa turned his head to face Goshiki.

“That may be a problem,” Kei spoke as he looked to a now sleeping Koji.

“I don’t see what problem there could be, if we’re just placing a box down, then it should be a relatively easy going and safe mission,” Shouyou added.

“It is safe, if you’re on a team where everyone is at 100%, well rested and well fed, then you shouldn’t have any problems at all,” Kei stopped and pointed. “You should be aware of our condition.”

“I am but I don’t think it’s enough to keep us from going out there in the morning.”

“Shouyou’s right,” Goshiki stood and stretched. “More importantly we have nothing else to do while we wait to be extracted. Either we stay here and wait or we complete the rest of our objective, going home knowing that we completed our first mission.”

“But Koji,” Kei mentioned.

“Like earlier, he can be carried by someone if we don’t feel comfortable leaving him here alone,” Goshiki spoke softly.

“I don’t want to do that, I don’t want to leave him behind,” Shouyou quickly added.

“The mission,” Goshiki repeated. “The mission needs to be completed.”

“Who cares about completing the mission, if we can’t complete it together?” Shouyou shouted. Koji stirred awake.

“Shouyou, calm down,” Kei stated as he grabbed Shouyou’s arm. Shouyou stood breathing heavily as he stared at Goshiki.

Goshiki turned away, eyes only focusing on the burning embers of their fire.

“Just rest for now. I’ll decide by morning,” Goshiki turned to lay on his back.

“You should rest too,” Kei spoke softly.

“I’m not tired,” Shouyou, finally sitting down, shouted. He continued to stare at Goshiki.

“You are, now be quiet,” Kei let go of Shouyou as he continued to speak softly to calm him down.

Hearing the soft sounds of sleeping from his teammates with the occasional soft murmur from Shouyou Goshiki sat up. He tossed a few more wooden planks onto their fire pile, completely reinvigorating the fervor of the fire. A few of the boys unconsciously nudged closer to the fire.

Goshiki sighed as he stood softly. He tiptoed quietly, effortlessly navigating through the sleeping bodies so as to not awake them. He ignored putting his shoes on as they would be too loud. Once he was an aisle away from them, he walked normally. He shivered as his bare feet met the chilly store floor.

Shelves of many of the aisles he passed had full stocks of food and other items on them. Glass pickle jars, boxes of noodles, baking goods, some appliances and plates, all seemed to be in pristine condition. That wasn’t to say that the store was in perfect condition. Overturned shelves in aisles had their contents spilled out discoloring the floor with splatters of red, green, and yellow coloring, cracked bottles of glass made it difficult for Goshiki to navigate to his destination; a secluded window by the front of the store. However, a few excellently timed jumps and climbing on some racks, allowed him to reach it without breaking a sweat.

Looking out the floor to ceiling window, Goshiki started to think of how this port town used to be. It seemed to have all of the things you’d find in a small port town. In front of the store, was the main road. Lining the main road were numerous small mom and pop shops. These stores seemed to be fighting to survive in this age of the supermarket that carried everything including the kitchen sink. However, locals still loved to shop at the stores that they were visiting since they were little kids. Store fronts still had hanging textiles like imported rugs, and handmade quilts, hanging from their windows. Doors were clearly broken into and many window displays had some of their antique lamps and statues knocked over or crushed. Food carts carrying an assortment of rotted fruits and vegetables were turned over in front of these stores, some were completly crushed from probably the heavy weight of the velociraptor-class creatures jumping on them out of curiosity. A spare wheel miraculously stood upright in the middle of the road, perhaps a testament to the sheer strength and perseverance of man in this age of the apocalypse.

Could the team persevere, standing up against all odds, like this wheel? Goshiki thought it possible. It was only by some weird miracle that no one was hurt or killed. Somehow Koganegawa remained calm enough to get Koji to safety. Somehow, they had arrived just in time to save Koganegawa from being killed. And now, somehow they had managed to find a safe place of refuge for the night in an area that could have been swarming with hordes of hostiles. Could this strange set of coincidences, or maybe miracles, continue or was this going to be the end of the line?

On the surface, planting and activating the final box was an easy task; simply going to the location, connecting it, and activating it. Making it even easier, it would be four of them, five if Koji was included, there. However, complicating things was Koji who was injured so much he couldn’t walk or possibly move his arms, the attacker Koganegawa who could only use one arm, making him about as helpful as Koji. Kei and Shouyou though uninjured were clearly running on fumes, even if Shouyou wouldn’t admit it. A night of sleep on the floor could only help but so much. The lack of nutritious and filling food wasn’t doing them any favors. Goshiki himself, he noted, though not really exhausted would be confined to manipulating the device, unable to assist due to the close range requirement of linking with the box.

The logistics of carrying Koji would render Koganegawa unable to even participate, but it could potentially keep him safe. Abandoning, or rather, leaving, Koji unattended in the supermarket was not really an appealing idea. If something were to happen, there would be no way to return to him in time. Leaving someone with him would cause their combat strength to decrease too much. Koganegawa couldn’t be left to watch over Koji, he couldn’t use his arm after all. But then leaving Shouyou or Kei to guard Koji wouldn’t be smart at all.

“Can’t sleep?” Goshiki planted himself against the glass as he heard Kei’s tired voice.

“Oh it’s just you?”

“Unlike the others, it’s just impossible to sleep on the hard floor. And it’s cold. I hate the cold.”

Goshiki laughed. “Same.”

“But really, why are you alone over here?”

“I have too much on my mind to sleep, you heard Shouyou.”

Kei stared off into the distance. The window rattled as a gust of wind blew over. The lone wheel stood strong not even rocking.

“He had a point, I would like for us to finish the mission together,” Goshiki leaned on the glass, face facing Kei.

“It’s not an easy decision, but know that even if we may disagree we stand by your word,” Kei stated. “However, I prefer if we all stay together as well.”

“Thanks Kei, it means a lot.”

Kei moved closer to Goshiki and put his hand on his shoulder. He gripped it briefly. Goshiki instantly relaxed as he moved a bit closer to Kei.

“We’re all worried for you, it’s okay to give up. It really is.”

“But I don’t want to give up,” Goshiki let himself be led back to the others by Kei. Kei had his arm wrapped around Goshiki’s waist as Goshiki leaned further on Kei getting even closer to the warmth Kei offered. The embrace filled him with confidence.

“A mission is a mission, there will be many more missions in the future. This isn’t the only one.”

“But it’s been six months since we even got to do something more than practice. I can’t help but feel that it’s my lack of leadership that made us take this long. I’m just holding you all back. So let me make up for it.”

“Listen, no one feels that way at all,” Kei stopped and turned to face Goshiki. He placed one hand on Goshiki’s cheek as he angled his face upwards so that they made eye contact. Goshiki avoided looking at him.

“How would you know, you’re not the leader.”

“How do you know that’s the reason?”

“Because, I just, what else would explain it?”

“Time, training? Experience?”

“Tch.”

“This way of thinking is going to get you hurt someday. You’ve got to stop it,” Kei pulled Goshiki in for a tight hug. “Please stop thinking that way. We care. I care.”

They stayed locked together in the aisle for a few minutes. The moonlight shone on them as if they were the only two in the universe. Goshiki tried to find the words to respond but got too caught up in emotions to coherently form them. He felt Kei’s chest with every breath. He could feel his heartbeat racing though it was oddly comforting as he thought of all the times that he put his team through difficult situations. Kei had many chances to abandon Goshiki, to join a different team, but he stayed. For that Goshiki was glad, and was glad that even now, when a decision that could have implications on their safety, Kei was here to be someone to talk to, someone to pour out his feelings too, someone to tell him what he needed to hear and also what he didn’t need to hear.

When Kei pulled away, Goshiki felt slightly disappointed but he tried to not let his face show it. The moonlight reflected off of Kei’s glasses preventing Goshiki from seeing his expression, but the way his body moved made him wonder if there was something deeper lurking.

“Shall we go back?” Kei asked after examining his socks.

“Did you step in the tomato sauce?”

“This is going to be a nightmare to get off. I might have to ditch them just like Shouyou did.”

They both laughed as they made their way back to their makeshift camp.

\--

 “Shut the curtains!” Shouyou shouted groggily. He turned over to avoid the sun’s reflection off the floor. Forgetting he was in a store, he bumped into a shelf. It shook, sending several cans of expired corn upon his head.

“Are you always this noisy in the morning?” Koganegawa threw a can that rolled and hit him at Shouyou.

“Ouchie!” Shouyou screamed out rubbing his orange hair as he felt liquid. When he saw that he had yellow liquid on his hand he screamed some more. “Stupid Koganegawa!”

“Can you two shut up please!” Kei yelled as he sat up.

“Well now that we’re all awake, get ready,” Goshiki helping Koji sit up, said amidst chuckles.

“That hurts,” Koji said as he struggled to contain his laughter. Pain shot up through him every time he attempted to stand.

“Take it easy,” Goshiki helped him stand and let him lean over on the wall. “Koganegawa, can you handle this?”

“We’re taking Koji?” Shouyou shouted as he rubbed his hands and hair on a towel he found in the next aisle.

“No man left behind,” Kei added as he got prepared. He grimaced when he noticed the stain on his sock gave off a hideous odor. Taking both socks off he proceeded to put his shoes on.

“You hear that Koji?” Shouyou asked.

“Wait, were you really planning on leaving me behind?” Koji said angrily.

“No, it’s not like that.” Goshiki quickly added.

“Then how is it?”

“We were just assessing our options.”

“And an option is to leave a member behind?”

“No.”

“I thought so highly of you, but it’s true, people’s true colors come out when they are threatened.”

“Koji, will you listen please.” Goshiki pleaded. As he gripped Koji’s arm, Koji winced in pain and turned away, He instantly fell to the floor and cried out in agony.

Goshiki turned to look to the others for help but they had, oddly, left the area.

“Just, leave me alone,” Koji said through clenched teeth. Goshiki extended his hands to help. Koji, though protesting, allowed Goshiki to help guide him upwards.

Once he was leaning on the wall again Koji spoke. “I’m sorry, this is just, it’s just too much to take in and deal with.”

“It wasn’t like that. Honest. Koganegawa would have stayed with you while we, well Shouyou, Kei, and I to finish the mission. I just thought it would be safer than carrying you and Koganegawa into the field again. Just look at the both of you.”

“Why didn’t you ask me?”

“You were sleeping…I didn’t want to wake you.”

“You have to come up with something better than that, can’t you at least be honest?”

Goshiki sighed heavily and clenched his fist. “I was afraid of what you might say, and what you might feel. I mean I wasn’t going to leave you. We were just discussing it.”

Koji didn’t say anything at all causing Goshiki to panic.

“Shouyou got angry and made me reconsider that option. I wasn’t seriously going to leave you. Honest Koji.”

“It’s honestly my fault, I’m sorry,” Koji said while crying softly. “I should have let myself be killed right there. I can’t even look Koganegawa in the eye anymore. Every time I see him I just look at his arm and think that that’s my fault. My poor, weak self caused that to happen to him.”

“Let yourself be killed?” Goshiki looked stunned. “Do you realize what you’re saying? Why do you think Koganegawa fought for so long and put his life on the line?”

“I was.”

“Koganegawa didn’t look any bit regretful at what he did. Do you know what he said when I was treating him?”

Koji continued to cry but he looked attentively at Goshiki.

“If I had to do it again, I would. I’d give my life for you, for Shouyou, for Kei, for Koji. If I had died knowing that one of you were saved, I’d have no regrets. Absolutely none,” Goshiki said with the same level of conviction Koganegawa had made. It was such a pivotal statement that Goshiki was left speechless. How someone like Koganegawa, who some had considered to be very simple minded, be so earnest, heartfelt, and thoughtful was beyond him.

“He really said that?” Koji asked meekly.

“Don’t ever take it for granted whenever someone is defending you. No one on this team is here just to save themselves. We’re all in this together,” Goshiki stated as he moved to help keep Koji propped up against the wall.

“A+ words from our captain,” Kei stated from the distance.

Goshiki motioned for Koganegawa to come closer. As Koganegawa approached Goshiki noticed Koji’s eyes quickly focus on the sling that held Koganegawa’s tattered arm. Koji winced and tears reformed on his eyes. His mouth quivered as he continued to focus on it. Koji allowed himself to be moved, almost like a doll, onto Koganegawa’s back. Once he did, Koji immediately planted his face right onto Koganehawa’s back and wept loudly and bitterly. Koganegawa looked around in confusion as the others looked on in silence.  

Once Koji settled down they left the camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are moments where I visualize all of them on the court during a volleyball match, but I use those images to transplant them into a post apocalyptic scenario. If I were to write for Haikyuu!! again I would like to do a high school setting for themin the regular time, just to try my hand at something more familiar. But in any case, I loved picturing Tsukishima comforting his teammate. Goshiki Tsukishima a rare pair of epic untapped proportions, though Im probably the only person that ships.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mission finally reaches the climax

“I suggest we take a slower pace,” Kei said as he sent over coordinates to everyone’s wristband. Immediately the map was uploaded and displayed on the battle visors. The way point icon blinked showing its location as well as how many meters away the point was.

“Don’t worry about us, we can manage,” Koganegawa turned his head to try to look at Koji. “Right Koji?”

Koji still had his head buried in Koganegawa’s back but visibly gave affirmation.

“See?” Koganegawa smiled proudly.

“We’re not pushing it,” Goshiki stated.

“There’s no need to anyway, this path is already the quickest to the location,” Kei quickly indicated they could display the alternative route. It added an additional hour of travel time.

“Kei has always been good with the maps,” Shouyou stated proudly as if he was taking the credit for it.

“On a team with you, one of us needed to have some sense of direction. Leaving it in your hands made us get lost one time too many,” Kei reminiscence and laughed.

“I could have done it again. You just never gave me a chance.”

“You ruined your chance when the rescue party had to come and find us. I was so embarrassed.” Kei shook his head.

Shouyou stuck his tongue out as he gave an excuse. “I was trying to take a shortcut. It was an honest mistake.”

Kei sighed. “Well we don’t need any honest mistakes.”

“Can I do the maps once?” Shouyou moved towards Goshiki to ask.

“Ask Kei to train you, then I’ll think about it,” Goshiki said as he smiled politely. Inwardly he feared how leaving Shouyou in control of the maps would be. His review of Shouyou’s file suggested that the map event was far more serious than Shouyou or Kei were even stating.

“Kei?” Shouyou ran up to Kei and grabbed both his hands. “Please?”

“No,” Kei said with no hesitation or room for discussion.

“Captain, Kei said no, can you tell him to train me?”

“I’ll talk to Kei later.”

“I’m not agreeing to that,” Kei said dismissively. “Absolutely not.”

“Captain!”

“We’ll see!” Goshiki struggled to maintain his polite smile as he realized how annoying Shouyou could be. If the conversation could change to something else right now he would be glad.

Everyone returned to silence as they continued to walk. The ground started to angle upwards ever so slightly. Trees and shrubs on the landscape became sparser as they continued to walk to their destination. Eventually they realized they were perhaps reaching for the end of an islet. A lighthouse stood in front of them. Around them was a steep drop off to the waters below.

“It’s all the way up there?” Shouyou said as he looked upwards. A red stripe wound around the white mosaic tiled lighthouse that they stared up at. A few windows on the exterior dotted the side of the structure.

They nodded as they took off in different directions to examine the landscape. Kei and Shouyou moved to the left and right to examine the waters around them. Goshiki moved to behind the light house.

“Look how far down this is,” Goshiki commented as he peered over the edge of the cliff. The lighthouse stood several meters from the edge of the cliff. Sounds of waves crashing into the rocky bottom of the cliff sounded like distant thunder. The rumbling sent gentle vibrations around them.

“Yes, the coordinates match up to a location at the top of the tower. I assume it’s going to be placed by the light,” Kei spoke as he walked to meet Goshiki.  They walked back to the front of the light house as they looked at the others.  Eyes turned upwards to stare at the cabin like structure above. The structure had windows, most likely for rooms where they could most likely place the box.

Goshiki was the first to make a move. “Koganegawa, Koji, standby. Report on any hostiles immediately. Do not engage,” Goshiki quickly belted out orders. “Kei, Shouyou, you’re with me. Guard.” Goshiki and Kei moved towards the massive door of the light house. Shouyou quickly moved to assist Koganegawa.

“Alright Koji, down you go,” Koganegawa crouched down and slid Koji off near the wall. With Shouyou’s help, he helped sit him upright.

“Ah, that was tiring,” Koganegawa stretched as he rubbed his back. Shouyou gave him a brief message as the others watched.

“Thanks,” Goshiki stated.

Koji only nodded slightly as he continued to avoid eye contact with Koganegawa.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s the least I can do.”

Now that everyone was ready, Shouyou joined Goshiki and Kei at the door of the lighthouse. Shouyou attempted to force the door open.

“The door is locked,” Shouyou shouted. He continued to try to push the doors open, but they wouldn’t budge.

“That’s because it looks like it was barricaded,” Kei stood face to face with the double doors. He realized it was actually glass. If he looked close enough he could barely make out what was inside.  There appeared to be a large wooden crate along with a bookshelf blocking the door from moving.

“Move over,” Goshiki quickly energized the Asteroid in his hand. The palm size cube glowed to life, this time it was a pulsating red mass. He quickly flicked his hand forward. A small red orb materialized then moved forward with enough speed to generate a sonic boom. The glass shattered into a million pieces on impact. The crate and bookshelf inside were vaporized instantly. Immediately, as they looked through there was a hole the size of an orange in the back wall.

“Wow,” Shouyou stood with mouth agape as he looked from the hole and back to Goshiki.

Goshiki smiled proudly as he enjoyed the praise from Shouyou.

“After you,” Kei motioned for Goshiki to enter first as he appeared unfazed by the overly enthusiastic show of power from his capable captain.

They walked through the hallway, casually peering into nooks and crannies for any sign of life. Only the sound of the waves outside reverberated around them as they continued deeper. Light from the outside grew fainter as they made their way.

“Someone should have opened some windows in here, it reeks,” Shouyou eventually spoke. He pinched his nose as if it would be able to keep the putrid smell from infiltrating his nostrils.

“It should be obvious what this smell is,” Kei said grimly.

“Don’t say it,” Shouyou responded fearfully.

“Don’t assume anything,” Goshiki reminded them.

“Do you really think it’s that likely that someone could have survived here, after all this time?” Kei added as he trailed behind Shouyou and Goshiki. They came up a staircase that spiraled upwards. At each window Shouyou knocked out the window allowing fresh sea air to flow in. It helped to refresh the air.

“Anything could be possible,” Shouyou turned towards Kei.

“It is, but I don’t see how someone could have lived up here for this long. Food is a problem.”

“But the supermarket still had food.”

“You can’t survive off of that, you’d be skin and bones in no time.”

“Maybe they made plans in advance, stored up a huge stock of food. They barricaded the door so they knew what they were doing.”

“Anyone would barricade the door if there were beings they had no clue about roaming outside.”

Goshiki reached a locked mahogany wood door. As he reached for the golden door knob, he felt something sticky on the handle.

“Goshiki?” Shouyou asked.

“Situation report,” Goshiki stated clearly.

“All clear captain,” Koganegawa’s voice came through their earpieces.

“I think this is probably some dried or drying blood on the door,” Goshiki spoke to them.

“Did you hear that?” Shouyou said quietly. They quieted down as they listened to the sound. Scratches against a wooden floor gave the impression that something with claws was moving around the room. The sound of books hitting the floor as well as a screech of glass shattering caused them to get their weapons ready.

“We’re going in, Shouyou, Kei, provide cover,” Goshiki whispered loudly.

“No, I disagree,” Kei quickly dropped one of his blades as he reached for Goshiki’s shoulder.

“What?” Shouyou’s protested echoed Goshiki’s sentiments.

“The better plan would be for Goshiki to stand behind us as we charge in. Look, he breaks the door for us as we charge in to quickly attack whatever may be in front of us. His weapon is better suited for ranged combat.” Kei loosened his grip on Goshiki. He reengaged his Scorpion as he stood on one side of the door. Shouyou, taking the hint, moved to stand across from Kei.

“Alright, stand clear,” Goshiki fired off another one of his orbs. The door shattered into numerous splinters. Kei motioned with his hand for Shouyou to go in first. Shouyou quickly stepped through the now broken door. After glancing around and noticing only overturned books, he moved slightly deeper into the room.

“After you,” Goshiki whispered as he let Kei go through the door first.

As Goshiki entered the room, Shouyou appeared in front of him and Kei.

“I didn’t see any hostiles in here,” Shouyou scanned the room as he spoke.

“I guess they went further up,” Goshiki stated. “Unless we were hearing things?”

“No, that’s not possible,” Shouyou spoke as he led them further into the room. It appeared to be an archive type facility in which there were numerous file cabinets and bookshelves all over the place. In one corner of the room was a glass desk. Part of it was shattered under what appeared to be some powerful scratching. Claw marks dug deep into the wall of the room. Fresh liquid oozed downwards from the wall and onto the glass below. Deeper into the room were a few overturned file cabinets and bookshelves with files lining the floors. Numerous personnel activity reports, health records, and ship manifests were sprawled over the floor. A few papers were slashed. Some were cut into ribbons.

“Shouyou, you go on, we’ll follow behind,” Goshiki continued to examine the room as Shouyou moved on. A shining glint from the floor in front of him caught his eye. As he lifted the rectangular object up, glass pieces rained down, one cut his thumb immediately causing him to suck his finger. He used his non dominant hand to turn the object over. Smiling in the center was a little girl, no older than five, in a flowery white dress fluttering in the wind. Behind her was an old man, cigar pipe in mouth, red vest, and a straw hat chasing after her. Over this scene, the noon time sun with clouds seemingly moving gently in the blue sky. Piercing this marvelous sky was the top of the lighthouse. Colorful banners, a wide assortment of red, blue, greens, yellows, pinks, oranges, and even peppermint designs, strewn about the bottom of the lighthouse as well as hanging from beneath the upper platform of the platform.

Goshiki pocketed the image as it made him tear up. The lighthouse had seen better days. Thoughts of the man in this study area detailing every ship that came through safely guided by the light from his lighthouse passed over as he peered at the broken desk, the overturned file cabinets, even the cracked coffee cup he only now realized was on the ground, crushed, in front of him. A doll, fully with twin strands of braided hair sat decapitated and stomped on the corner by the window. More concerning was where were the man and the daughter. Would they have fled when warnings were raised or had they tried to survive in here?

Goshiki moved on to follow the others. He noticed indentions in the cement flooring of the staircase looked weirdly out of place. It was deeper than simple wear and tear could make it. The thought of something so heavy to dent the staircase being carried upstairs seemed to be hard to believe. Could the creature that currently eluded them be around the bend? Getting more worried, Goshiki quickly hurried along.

“Guy’s we have a problem,” Shouyou’s frantic voice came through distorted through the ear piece.

“What now?” Kei sighed annoyed.

“I found the hostile,” Shouyou’s voice came through muffled as a debilitating roar was heard loudly through their ear pieces.

“Hang tight,” Goshiki rubbed his ear as he quickly exited the room. He jumped three stairs at once as he continued on the spiral upwards.

“Hurry,” as soon as the sound came through the ear piece, the sound of metal hit the wall.  “Didn’t get me,” Shouyou sounded excited yet did little to cover the hints of worry in his voice.

Goshiki could feel every vibration from the ongoing battle upstairs. The ground shook violently as he could feel the velociraptor-class trying to ram into his teammate. Nimble and fast Shouyou was capable of dodging the velociraptor-class that typically liked to go in for a ramming head butt attack.

Goshiki entered the room just as soon as Shouyou dodged yet another attack.

Shouyou jumped to the left but rubbed his head once he landed. “Low ceiling, ouch.”

“I didn’t,” Kei’s words were cutoff as a different velociraptor-class came rushing at him. He was sent flying several meters in the air, body skidding harshly across the ceiling. A glass light fixture kept him from going across the entire ceiling. It shattered and helped to bring him crashing down. He came down knocking over a dining table and chairs in this kitchen. Ceramic plates crashed and fell on him as he lay motionless under this pile of decorative glass, cutlery, dining ware, and wooden table splinters.

“Kei!” Goshiki screamed as he looked on in awe.  Shouyou’s attention was split between looking at the enemy before him and looking at the safety of his teammate. Seeing there was still no movement caused him to look at Kei for a moment too long. Shouyou turned back a moment too late, dodging just late enough that the claw of the creature hit and scraped harshly against his knee. He stumbled over, no rolled over several times, coming into contact with a kitchen island. It over turned causing drawers full of forks, spoons, knives, bottoms, pots, and pans to come flying to the floor. The cacophony of metal clinging against the cement floor and the loud bam as this massive piece of kitchen furniture tumbled over startled the enemies, giving Goshiki just enough time to make it to Kei.

Kei’s battle visor was cracked; part of the frame was chipped but otherwise it was still usable. One of his Scorpion blades was missing. Physically Kei’s shirt was torn completely in half, as if when flying he had got caught in one of the claws. His thin figure was now partially revealed, Goshiki winced as he saw the cuts and scrapes across his chest. The bruises would leave some pretty terrible marks later on. Some abrasive cuts were there too making him look like he had a pretty wicked fall while skateboarding shirtless. Red markings of where he was punctured by either glass, wood splinters, or even forks and knives had liquid welling up on him.

“Captain we have a problem,” Koganegawa shouted.

“So do we,” Goshiki cried out. 1, 2, 3, breath in, breath out, breath in, 1, 2, 3, Goshiki thought to himself. It’s important to stay calm whenever everything is crashing down around. “What is down there, I can’t see anyone from this floor,” Goshiki stated once calm.

“Hostiles are closing in on us fast. We came inside and have barricaded the door as best we can,” Koganegawa sounded as if he was out of breath.

“What, there shouldn’t have been any hostiles,” Goshiki whispered harshly. “There were none on the proximity radar.

“There are.”

“I’m currently trying to help Kei while defending from two hostiles, we’re pinned down,” Goshiki looked around as the two hostiles continued to poke around the area where Shouyou landed. Goshiki noted that Shouyou was crawling softly towards him and Kei. The hostiles had yet to notice.

“We’re going to be pinned down too if nothing changes.”

“There’s nothing I can do, you’re on your own.”

“We’ll see how we can do, just hurry up and get back down here.

“We will try too.”

“Move,” Kei shouted as he grabbed Goshiki by the shoulder and into a tight hug. He rolled to the side just in time to evade one of the claws of another hostile. It dug deep into the cement. Gray rocks and powder came flying upwards.

“A third one?” Goshiki said words muffled against Kei’s chest.

The sound appeared to get the attention of the other hostiles, who now gave up their investigation of the island and instead turn towards Shouyou who was mere meters in front of him. Shouyou attempted to get up but his pressure on his wrist was too much, failing to hold his weight and balance him causing him to tumble over. He cried out in agony.

As both hostiles prepared to launch a flurry of kicks at Shouyou they were blasted back, slamming into the wall and eventually out of it as a brilliant flash of white light illuminated the room blinding everyone. The creatures vanished. Only the sound of the stone exterior, pieces of ceiling hitting the floor, and heavy breathing from one of the boys were heard as things felt like they stood at a standstill.

“Thank you, Goshiki,” Shouyou said mere moments later. He sniffed loudly snot moving as he continued to try to reach Kei and Goshiki.

“Stay focused there’s still one more,” Goshiki cried now standing with his Asteroid engaged. Some smoke was still emanating from the two cubes in his hands.

Shouyou managed to stand though rubbed his other wrist as he did.

“Kei, can you still go on?” Goshiki turned to ask.

“I should have brought more armor, that attack exceeded the limits of what that shirt could handle.” He patted himself removing all the dirt, dust, hair, and pieces of debris that were on him. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t in any pain at all. Yes, to answer your question, I can still go on.”

“And you Shouyou?”

“Of course, but this may be a problem,” his hand seemed to be pretty limp now and appeared to be swollen.  

“We’re close so don’t give up now,” Goshiki smiled hoping to give them confidence to keep going.

All three turned to look towards the lone velociraptor-class as it eyed them. It stood and immediately made several high pitched sounds that caused them to plug their ears.

“What’s this noise? Captain, the ones outside are now doing it too,” Koganegawa’s voice filled their ear pieces, though amid the noise, only bits and pieces of his words could be heard.

“I don’t,” Kei added as he covered his ears, “remember this behavior being mentioned in any of our classes or books.”

“They never did this in simulation’s either,” Goshiki added.

“Shut up!” Shouyou screamed as he dashed towards the hostile. Sole scorpion blade drawn he managed to get close enough to make a forward slash on the torso of the creature. It immediately shrieked out in what could be considered pain as light particles materialized. It swung one of its arms at Shouyou, who narrowly dodge it. He turned around to deliver another blow, this time on its back. It again moaned in pain.

Banging could be heard through their ear pieces which caused alarm.

“Koganegawa, situation report,” Goshiki continued to look on as Shouyou single-handedly, literally and figuratively whittled down the proverbial health bar of the hostile. Kei stood ready to lend aid but he looked rather exhausted.

“We’re heading up to higher ground. The barricade was holding but I think it could have given way any moment,” Koganegawa said through heavy breathing.

“The next floor can be blocked as well.”

“Thanks for the heads-up.”

“No problem.”

“And done,” Shouyou fell to the ground as he soon lay down to catch his breath. The creature shrieked one last time as it burst into numerous particles of life. Life exhausted it left the world probably cursing its fate for having gone against Shouyou.

“No time for rest,” Goshiki picked up his abandoned backpack and pulled a water bottle from the supermarket out. Shouyou opened his mouth wide as Goshiki poured some of it in. Shouyou hummed in pure delight as the refreshing spring water soothed him, the slight chill of it going through his body, sending chills to heal his soul.

“Kei?” Goshiki motioned who too accepted some of the water gladly.

“Onward we go,” Kei said after gulping some water down.

“The top floor is next, which means we should be done here momentarily.”

“Get up,” Kei lightly kicked Shouyou who was still relaxing on the floor.

“Already?” Shouyou wondered as he rose, again putting his weight on one hand and arm and slowly rising.

“Yes already, I’ve had enough lighthouses for a lifetime.”

“I agree with Kei,” Goshiki said from a few meters away. He gripped the doorknob of the door in front him. Expecting a barricade, he only applied a little bit of pressure. Though there was a little pressure, it soon gave way allowing him to fully open the door.

Shouyou’s scream and quick movement behind Kei caused Goshiki to panic. He turned and noticed Shouyou shaking violently and pointing downwards. As Goshiki moved his eyes towards the object of Shouyou’s attention, a thousand things flowed through his mind. The first of which caused him to jump back several meters and fall on the ground.

“T-t-t-t-t-that’s a,” Goshiki cried as he crawled backwards to get away.

Kei, paralyzed with fear, couldn’t even begin to complete the sentence.

“Skeleton,” Shouyou screeched and jumped on Kei’s back as a skull rolled down and stopped at Kei’s shoe.

“E-e-e-verybody c-c-calm down n-n-now.” Goshiki stammered out. “We are trained for this. O-o-okay.”

“This is too real, I want to go home. I want to go home now,” Shouyou was a panicking mess. All he could do was continue to grip and hold on to Kei for all his life was worth.

Kei, finally regaining composure, quickly grabbed Goshiki’s waving hand and ran as fast as anyone had ever seen him through the open door and up the stairs. The bony and still rotting bodies of a man and his daughter were quickly leapt over as he dashed through the open upper doorway. He slammed the door behind him and soon collapsed.

“What, was that?” Shouyou asked as soon as he realized they were in a new room.

“I think, I think it was the answer to your question much earlier. The people who lived here seemed to have become prisoners of their own prison. Trapped with nowhere to go, when the portals opened in this very building, all they could do was run up the stairs and hide. Hiding for weeks with no food and eventually no water, they finally collapsed and died,” Kei stated as he sat to catch his breath. “By the way, you can get off now.”

“Oh right,” Shouyou said as he chuckled nervously. He stood and avoided looking at the door they came through as if a skeleton would happen to walk through.

They took a brief moment to breathe deeply. They calmed themselves with breathing exercises as they let the thoughts of the previous situation fade from memory. Goshiki spoke once they looked ready to continue.

“Now that we’re here, we just place the box, and then call for extraction. If I remember correctly, the second this box is connected the entire automatic sensing network will become active giving us a direct link to the base,” Goshiki analyzed the room. It was surrounded on all sides by glass. The vibrant light sat in the middle of the room able to turn 360 degrees. It sat elevated on a gold pedestal that seemed like it was polished daily. Even now only a light film of dust covered it, indicating the great care that the overseer gave it. Perhaps he thought it would someday return to active duty. That day, though, would require no hostiles being present. The bright light would surely be a magnet to them.

“That is correct,” Kei flipped through an open notebook on a desk that faced the sea. Data spanning several years flowed through his hands. Details regarding ships sizes, contents, and weather were record. “Wow it looks like this was what happened the night the portals first opened here.”

“Take that with us, it could be valuable to headquarters,” Goshiki said as he stood by the window to gaze out to sea. The crystal clear waters seemed to move peacefully. With no ships, sailboats, speedboats, or even cargo ships, it almost looked eerie. Seeing no human life on the waters was something unheard of from years ago. Now, it was common. Watersports and water recreation was just not feasible in the current time. Protection couldn’t be erected underwater as the cost was too great and the harm to human life too much to bear.

Shouyou played with a Newton’s cradle sitting on a shelf by a window by Goshiki. As he moved one of the balls on the cradle, it hit the other group of balls and sent the one on the end flying upwards. It came back down and hit the group sending the one Shouyou hit back into the air. The process repeated completely captivating Shouyou.

“Well enough sightseeing, we should get this set up so we can get Koganegawa out of there,” Goshiki stood in front of the pedestal again as he realized where the final sensor box would go. A slot at the top of the light was perfect for holding their box. Goshiki took it out of the bag and temporarily gazed at it pulsing lightly in this sunlit room.

“We’re watching,” Kei said as he tugged Shouyou away from the cradle. Shouyou continued to watch it.

“Right,” Goshiki initiated the procedures for connecting the box to the network.

“Transmitting 37% complete,” the computerized female voice said.

“Kei are you seeing this?” Shouyou moved closer to the cradle.

“Feel what?”

“This?”

“I don’t know what this is.”

“Look at the cradle, is it supposed to do that?”

Kei looked and noticed that the balls were moved from side to side instead of back and forth.  As he did the entire lighthouse shook violently.

“Earthquake?” Goshiki yelled as he lost connection with the cube. It fell to the floor and bounced a few times.

The windows immediately vibrated harshly as a bone chilling roar was heard. Another roar was heard which caused cracks to start to dance across the windows. One more roar came causing several of the windows to break apart.

“What is going on?” Koji’s voice came through their ear piece.

“Why is it dark all of a sudden?” Koganegawa asked.

“Dark?” Kei mentioned as he turned to face the now open windows.

“That’s why,” Shouyou moaned as he readied his Scorpion blade.

“You two, do what you can, I’ll hurry and get this connected as soon as possible. This is going to be our toughest battle yet,” Goshiki said confidently.

“Authorization to engage is not permitted. Abort mission. Abort mission,” voices rang in the ear pieces of everyone. “Do not engage Tyranno-class. Do not engage.”

“We, we have no choice,” Koganegawa’s shouting voice came over the sound of the alarm message. “Below us is a swarm of velociraptor-class, and above or around us is the tyranno-class. How can we not engage either one?”

“We came this far we’re not turning back, that is an order,” Goshiki yelled out. “We connect this box then give it everything we’ve got.”

“There is no way we’re beating that,” Kei stated as he energized his Scorpion.

“We don’t know unless we try,” Shouyou nimbly dodged stepping on the shards of glass, his unprotected feet still managed to hit a few pieces causing him to stumble occasionally.

“We’ll be food if we run back downstairs into a hoard through one open doorway. Jumping down from this height is impossible with your injuries,” Koji stated.

“Koji’s right,” Goshiki mentioned as he placed the cube back into the pedestal. The lighthouse continued to shake as the large tyranno-class continued to roar angrily.

“Its,” Kei was cut off midsentence as the large reptilian head appeared peering right through the window. Its red eye, diamond shaped pupil and all, focused right on Kei. It then moved around to survey the territory. One by one it settled on the three boys and then danced back around to look again. No one moved an inch as they were captivated, no, paralyzed by the creature’s curiosity. Once it moved its head away, everyone stayed still as if entranced by the scene that played out. They were caught off guard when the head of the creature, its stout shaped mouth, rammed into the building. The force caused the light to be moved several inches on the pedestal. It was now precariously balanced between the pedestal edges. For Goshiki, the indention for the cube was now tiled 90 degrees to the side, a place impossible to set it. However it was the least of his worries, the force of the impact caused several roof pieces to fall around them. His leg was now pinned down beneath a ceiling tile.

“This is going to be impossible,” Kei cried out as he emerged from the desk he hid under.

“Don’t give up,” Shouyou cried as he leaned against the door.

“If we want to make it, I need you, Shouyou, to hold this box in place,” Goshiki held the box toward him.

“But your leg, we need to move that first,” Shouyou pointed to the ceiling tile that hadn’t budged an inch.

“This is more important right now.”

“But.”

“Do you want to die?” Goshiki asked flatly. The words seemed to cause something in Shouyou’s head to click on as he responded in the affirmative yes manner. “Good.”

“I’m here,” Shouyou stated as he held the box with his one good hand.

“Kei situation report,” Goshiki mentioned as he started typing commands in his device.

“Tyranno-class will be referred to as hostile from here on. Hostile is now preparing for another attack.”

“Guide me,” Goshiki stated.

“Aim at 3 o’clock in 3, 2, and 1.”

“Meteora go,” Goshiki flicked his finger as two volleyball sized orbs materialized. They glowed orange. A black miasma formed around them as they moved up and over him. Once they did they flew at full speed towards the head of the hostile. Upon impact the black miasma covered the head of the hostile completely blinding him. Orange mini explosions also appeared forcing the creature to stumble backwards.

“Hostile hovering close to the cliffs edge, blinded,” Kei yelled.

“That should buy us plenty of time. Shouyou hold on,” Goshiki shifted his body so that he could be a few centimeters closer to the pedestal. He braced himself for any sudden impacts and began typing on his wristband. “Hold for five minutes.”

“Hostile regrouping, tail incoming,” Kei yelled as he moved himself close to the desk.

Shouyou bent down on one knee as he held the box in place.

The creature roared once more rattling the light. The glass in the light shook but managed to hold. The pedestal it was on creaked which almost caused Shouyou to jump backward but he resisted. Goshiki was wholly focused and did not see anything transpire.

The tail made impact with the lighthouse which finally supplied enough force to cause the light to roll off the pedestal. Shouyou jumped out the way and actually fell as the lighthouse completely shifted several meters. It was now in threat of falling as he could feel it wobble as he lay sprawled on the ground.

“I’m stuck,” Kei screamed as he was pinned between the wall and the desk.

“Brace for impact,” Goshiki yelled as he, now free from being pinned under the ceiling tile, launched his Asteroid at the desk. Several small balls chipped away constantly at the desk, slowly breaking off chunks of it until it was light enough for Kei to move to the side.

“Koji, situation report,” Goshiki stated as he tried to reassess the situation. Currently the room was tilted over 45 degrees to the side. Many furnishings were now either destroyed, knocked to the floor, or rolling towards the wall and the doorway. The glass in any objects were cracked or either shattered. Shouyou, unharmed, currently held onto the box. He was leaning on a few boxes that slid to the wall. Kei, meanwhile, was leaning against the wall. Apart from scratches to his legs and cuts in his shorts, he was relatively unharmed.

The heavy light struggled to roll down the incline but it inched its way forward.

“Kei, you’re going to need to move,” Goshiki mentioned. Debris from the roof, dust and dirt fell around him causing him to shield his eyes as he tried to look around.

“I know, let me catch my breath,” Kei slowly moved out of the trajectory of the rolling light. However, he looked annoyed when he realized he would have to climb over a few chairs and shelves.

“Koki, report? Koji!” Goshiki frantically screamed as he realized there was no response. No sound, not even static was heard. It was as if there were no connection.

“Koji? Koganegawa?” Shouyou yelled into the earpiece too. But to no avail there was no response. Nothing was heard. “Are these dead?”

“No, they aren’t dead, I can hear you,” Kei rubbed his ear. Though the look of annoyance on his face seemed to waver as he too began to call out to Koji and Koganegawa.

“Then why can’t we hear them?” Shouyou looked very worried.

“Koji, Koji, Kojiiii,” Goshiki continued to call out. Just one word, just one sound, just one indication that they were there was all he needed.

Silence. Continuing silence. Nothing was heard, no words, no sounds, no indication that there was even a connection.

“Check their health,” Shouyou called out. With hand holding the box and the other hand limp he couldn’t manipulate his wrist band to check out his teammate’s health.

“It’s, It’s useless, they were already low on health, the system doesn’t go lower than what it already is,” Kei stared forward as he looked at the data on the battle visor.

“We need to get down,” a sudden crash to the side of the room interrupted Goshiki’s statement. Another crash afterwards completely stunned them. Suddenly the bright noonday sky appeared over them. The ocean breeze rushed into the room clearing out the settling dust and dirt. Moments later the entire lighthouse turned to the side completely. Goshiki, Shouyou, and Kei all tumbled into each other. Their heap of limbs soon became targets for several objects in the room. Amid shrieks of pain from bumping into each other, there were cries of agony as sharp pieces of ceiling tile poked them in the sides and as shards of glass dug into their skin.

“We’re going down!” Shouyou yelled as he, planted against one of the windows, could see the ground getting closer.

“This is bad,” Kei cried as he felt the lighthouse finally give way to the soggy ground below. The foundation couldn’t support all these external horizontal forces the creature applied to it. The cracking of the walls in the lower levels sounded like a funeral song. The creaking steel beams reinforcing the walls and the bricks hitting the ground like drums beating to the start of battle frightened him. “Get off me, get off.” Kei kicked his legs and arms around trying to get untangled from the mass.

They fell in slow motion. What should have been instant felt like it took several minutes. While Kei kicked around to untangle himself, Goshiki only thought back to where he made the mistake of this mission. From the start it was plagued with problems, sudden hostiles, sudden injuries, and now a sudden hostile who they were supposed to avoid. Unlike the other times where there was a way out, a way they could force themselves through by sheer willpower and determination, now there wasn’t. They were trapped like a mouse in a cage, unable to reach and open the door to freedom.

As the lighthouse hit the ground, a thunderous sound was the last thing any of the boys heard, they blacked out instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was a chapter, lol. Wow, again its so different coming back to ones writing a year later and actually going through and deciding how much of an edit to do. I do like what the original product was but I ended up fixing it up and adding quite a lot of new detail. Though there were spots I wanted to add more detail but it was hard and the chapter is already pushing 6000 words. 
> 
> This nano, my other nano, and my one other long fic, are showing me just how exhausting and challenging it is to incorporate action into a fic. This one is still the most passion self indulgent thing Ive written on the site so that makes it more of a challenge as I really want to make this something I totally enjoy all around (which in some chapters I do feel is some of my best writing yet).
> 
> This is also probably a really slow burn for forming relationships too, which I paced out deliberately like this. Everyone is still team building though as in the past, during the times they have downtime they really can grow closer to each other and level up their relationships. But also, I like the team bonding and team dynamics aspect of the story. 
> 
> Thanks for stopping by and checking out this fic, Things will calm down soon *i promise*.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mission comes to a frightening end.

Goshiki opened his eyes to the sight of a red light blinking in his peripheral vision. He attempted to speak to initiate the voice command to shut it off but his throat was so dry. He opened his mouth but was in pain, no words came out. Giving up on speaking, he thought of deactivating the light by directly interacting with his wrist band. He moved his arm but felt a sharp pain. He screamed weakly. He clenched his teeth as he slowly moved his hand back to where it was. There was still pain but it was nowhere near as intense as it was before. The pain immediately brought him out of his dazed state and made him realize what happened.

His eyes were open but it was as if they were closed. Apart from the blinking light in his peripheral vision there was nothing else he could see. Darkness, blackness, emptiness. No, emptiness wasn’t right, there had to be something there as his hand bumped into a rock, and his arm was clearly beside more rocks. Was it rubble? He moved his leg but it shifted only a few inches.

“Initiate,” he croaked out weakly, hoping the vocal recognition program would understand his commands. “Initiate area scan.”

“Initiating scan,” the female voice said though it was only audible in one ear. An ear piece must have fell out. “Scan failed.”

“Figures,” Goshiki stated. The building materials clumped up together must be blocking out the infrared laser from being able to scan the area. “Search for friendlies.”

“Searching, searching, 50%, searching, searching 100%, located two.” Immediately the map appeared on the minimap of his battle visor display. Icons showing the friendlies location were show. They were on top of Goshiki’s location.

“That’s good,” he said aloud. That must mean that Shouyou and Kei had not gone far. This gave him a great idea and a way to hopefully get out of the situation.

“Locate sensory box.”

“Sensory unit located.”

Immediately an “x” appeared right on top of Goshiki’s location. He immediately scrambled to remember the codes to input into his wristband.

“Recognize input codes,” he said as he found the words he needed to say. Immediately the display changed the view from a minimap display to the console of a programming environment. This command line prompt immediately filled in with the many lines of code Goshiki stated. Once done, he initiated the connection.

“Connection to the main network established,” the female voice stated.

Not even a second later than he connected, the warning sirens blared in his ear as well as on his field of view.

“Automated SOS initiated,” she added. Immediately her warning was muted as Goshiki’s display revealed an incoming call.

“Shiratorizawa-3, your unit is too close to the hostile,” Kawanishi Tashi stated as if bored. “You need to retreat.”

“That will not be possible, we are pinned down,” Goshiki’s hands quickly moved to signal the rubble that pinned him down, but quickly screamed out as pain shot through one of his arms again. His subconscious habit would be the death of him.

“Then when you are not pinned down, when possible, flee.”

“You don’t understand; we are pinned down. We are trapped.”

Goshiki heard the sound of papers moving. Next a creaking, like the sound a chair makes was heard. Silence.

“Goshiki Tsutomu of Shiratorizawa-3,” Semi Eita sounded as if he was reading a prompt word for word. “Extraction request received by Shiratorizawa-2. Are rescue services needed?”

Silence.

“Are rescue services needed?” He repeated.

Crying.

“Are rescue services needed, I repeat, are rescue services needed.”

“Yes,” Goshiki squeaked.

“Accepted.”

When the connection was terminated Goshiki continued to cry. He felt weak, he felt scared, and ultimately, he felt like he disappointed his superiors. Having to request help from the ones who even suggested he go on his debut field mission, an easy mission at that, was just plain embarrassing. How could one who was trained by the best, struggle so much on this easy mission. Worst yet, his teammates even sustained injuries. It wasn’t supposed to go like this. It was supposed to be easy, a walk in the park, like taking candy from a baby easy.

“Teammates?” Goshiki said to himself in these shadows. He quickly looked to the again opened minimap. The friendlies icon showed two markers on it. He knew these two belonged to Shouyou and Kei as they were in the same area before the lighthouse fell. However, what he wondered was where were the other two, Koji and Koganegawa. Before the fall there was no signal from them, was that because their battle visors had died, ran out of battery, or was it for another reason. Would they really have died from invading hostiles? They managed to barricade multiple rooms but could the barricades have been rendered useless by how often the lighthouse was shifted? Or were they caught in one of the sweeping attacks from the tyranno-class hostile. The tail could easily have hit the lighthouse causing anyone on the lower floor to be knocked out from its ferocious impact. Maybe they escaped and damaged their battle visors. However, escaping would be futile. If there were truly a hoard of hostiles outside the tower than they would be going right into the lion’s din going out there. The safest place was under this rubble. With no way to sense the energy from humans and also no way to actually break through the rubble the hostiles would be blind and helpless in trying to search and acquire them. Clearly, the best bet was if they were simply buried.

Exhaustion slowly crept over Goshiki as he waited silently in the darkness. The blinking red light of his visor was mesmerizing. At some point he began counting how many times it blinked. 1 blink, 2 blink, 4 blink, 10 blink…blink.

\--

“We found one,” a man’s voice cried out excitedly. Pressure on one of the beams soon caused extreme pain to course over an arm. It was gone quickly as suddenly all of the pressure, all of the weight, all of the sharp rough edges vanished. More limbs were liberated from the rubble around. Light soon flooded his vision. However just as soon as it came it vanished as he drifted back off into the world of dreams.

\--

The sound of heavy blades shifting air above. The flat metal platform, a sorry excuse for a cot, made him feel every bump, every bit of turbulence in the sky. Clean yet chilly air enveloped his bare feet and legs and arms. Though a chilly tube like object in his arm sent a shiver through his body. Opening his eyes, he saw four others around him. Though one seemed to have a sheet over him, was it to keep the sun from his eyes? As he wondered, he again drifted off. Was he always this tired?

\--

“But he completed the mission,” Semi whispered softly. His voice seemed to come right by the ear.

“Should we ignore the cost?” Ushijima answered from afar.

“No, but to punish him, to punish this team for going as far as they did to complete a mission that was rated much lower than it needed to be? That’s just unfair.”

“Life isn’t always fair,” Tendou stated solemnly, which seemed too real to be true.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t be fair,” Semi countered.

“I don’t want to lose them either,” Shirabu added as he seemed to move back, the area next to Goshiki’s leg rose noticeably.

“They’re too talented to stay benched any longer than they already were. How much more must they suffer?” Semi stood and walked to be face to face with Ushijima. “Don’t forget that we were the ones that put them up to this. We are responsible for what happens to Goshiki.”

“They were instructed to avoid any danger like that,” Tendou moved closer. “You make it seem like we told them to fight, that we told them running isn’t an option.”

“You do know who we’re dealing with right? Goshiki. And don’t forget the personalities of two of the other people on his team. Or did you skip reading their profiles when we paired them?” Semi looked at Tendou in disgust.

Tendou held his hands up as if caught red handed. “Okay, I’ll just agree with whatever you two decide. I’m out. Shirabu, are you coming?”

“Be right there,” Shirabu quickly excused himself as he trailed after Tendou who left the room.

“What do you intend to do?” Ushijima stood his ground but his stern face faltered for just a bit.

“Nothing, I think once they realize what has happened they will change. We don’t need to do anything. They are capable. It’s why they caught your eye especially Shouyou and Kei,” Semi winked as he too began to leave the room.

“Well. I’ll trust your decision,” Ushijima stated. He then moved close to Goshiki’s bed. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to prevent this from happening.” He said. He placed a vase of flowers on the table beside the bed. A card was placed as well. And lastly, the crinkling of a bag was heard as a box of chocolates was then placed on the table next to the card. “I seem to have caused you to make the same mistake I did. Never again must you lose yourself for the sake of the mission.”

Ushijima slowly made his way to the door. Once he arrived he turned around once more to stare at Goshiki in the infirmary bed. After glancing for a moment he then opened the door.

“Ushijima,” Goshiki coughed. “Ushijima you don’t have to.”

“Get some rest Goshiki.”

“But Ushijima, don’t blame yourself. Only blame me,” Goshiki turned his body fully prepared to get out of bed. As he did he felt many aches and pains. So much so that he groaned in agony.

“You need your rest. This is an order.”

“I don’t need rest, I’m fine.” Goshiki said as he gritted his teeth every time he moved even a millimeter. He got his legs to hang over the side of the bed. As he slid to put his feet onto the floor he heaved. So much energy to move just so little. Yet he was determined. He pushed his body off the bed and onto his feet flat on the floor.

As he did he stood for a second or too then completely lost all feeling in his legs, he tumbled down. Downwards he went though he didn’t meet the ground. No instead he found an arm around his waist. He turned up to look at Ushijima. Tears welled up in Goshiki’s eyes. He wanted to get them to stop but they didn’t, they just kept coming as he leaned against Ushijima’s chest and wept. Ushijima guided him back to the bed, turned his body, and tucked him under the covers. Goshiki continued to cry.

“I’m sorry Goshiki,” Ushijima whispered as he sat on the bed. “I’m so sorry.”

Goshiki fell asleep with tears in his eyes.

\--

“Those aren’t for you!” Kei whispered loudly.

“I know but one won’t be missed,” Shouyou said as crinkling sounds of a wrapper being touched were made. The sound seemed to be magnified ten times in the room completely overpowering the constant chime and beeping coming from both the hallway and from the room itself.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” Kei said as the sound of a chair being pushed back was made.

“Good morning,” Goshiki said softly as he opened his eyes. He attempted to squint but quickly closed them shut as the vibrant light from the morning sun flowed into the room exploding into a ball of golden brilliance fully reflected off the linoleum flooring and the creamy white wallpaper of the room.

“Shouyou is to blame for that, I don’t know why he thought it would be a good idea to open the curtains. He did it to me too,” Kei looked annoyed but kind of chuckled as he sat in the chair.

“It’s depressing being in a cold and dark hospital room, okay,” Shouyou said among a mouthful of chocolate brittle. “Anyway whose idea was it to get something so hard as a gift.”

“You’d know if you, you know read the note before eating the gift itself,” Kei reached over to grab the placard that lay next to the open box of sentimental “get well” sweets.

“I think it’s from Ushijima, I heard him before I went to sleep,” Goshiki said as he slowly opened his eyes. This time the light was less harsh. “Shirabu, Tendou, and Semi were here.” Remembering how he cried to Ushijima made him cringe. How could he show such weakness in front of him? And for what reason?

“Is that so?” Kei stated. He started to fidget with the sheet from Goshiki’s bed.  Oddly Shouyou grew quiet.

Kei looked towards Shouyou as if waiting for him to speak. Shouyou only shrugged and looked back towards Kei. Kei squinted and averted his eyes.

“We.”

“I was.”

Both boys spoke simultaneously.

“Tsk,” Kei continued to move the sheet around.

“So where are Koganegawa and Koji?” Goshiki asked as if oblivious to his teammate’s antics.

Silence.

Kei handed Goshiki the placard.

“We are sorry for your loss, signed,” it read. The cursive writing and many signatures and messages from many people Goshiki knew quickly blurred. He squinted trying to get the image to clear but it just wouldn’t. As he moved the placard out the way he looked up and noticed the entire room appeared to be distorted. Wetness around his eyes was felt every time he blinked. For some reason it wouldn’t clear. Soon his arms felt wetness. One of his hands felt sudden warmth. As he turned to look a tuft of orange hair was visible and leaning on the bedside. The warmth in his hand was mixed with more wetness. Was there a leak in the room somewhere? Why was there so much water? He could feel an arm on his back and he could see another arm extended behind the head of orange. As a sob broke out he found his mouth moving on its own, an unnatural sound emerged one in which he never imagined he would make. But now here he was joining in the other two sounds in the room.

The sunlight seemed to be deceptive. How could it shine so brightly, so merrily, on this day as if it were any normal day? A day that would be filled with promise, with joy, with life, with all the things that made one feel like living. It was offensive to those that now faced loss, those that faced pain, and those that felt grief. The cliché rainclouds, dark skies, thunder and lightning would be no more appropriate than on today.

They found themselves sitting and staring at the sun and wondered how they deserved to be alive to see this. How did they deserve to be able to see it for even just one more time, while others were not? How did they ever take seeing the sun for granted? Before it was just another thing in their laundry list of things to do for the day, now it seemed to be something could vanish the moment something went wrong. The moment something went awry, there would be no more opportunities to wake up and smell the flowers while the sun was shining.

“It’s all my fault,” Goshiki sniffled and said as he turned away from the window and looked downwards. He stared at his open palms. “It’s all my fault,” he repeated. He stared at his hands as if they were a mass murderer who was just found guilty. His look of disgust turned into one of fear and horror.

“My hands hurt you, and you,” he looked at Shouyou and at Kei. “Me, and Koganegawa, and worst of all, they killed…” He couldn’t say it. “They killed…” The name just wouldn’t come out. It was too much. It was too hard to admit. It was a lie. It had to be a lie.

“Stop it!” Kei said barely above a whisper.

Shouyou used his uninjured hand and arm to reach for Goshiki’s opened hands. Goshiki moved his hands and closed them.

“Don’t you dare touch these hands. Never again will they hurt anyone. Never again will I open them,” Goshiki tightened his hands and pulled them closer to his chest.

“There was nothing we could do, nothing anyone could do,” Kei stated though it sounded as if he was trying to reason within himself, as if there was some blame that he deserved.

“We could have stayed together. We could have abandoned the mission. We could have called for help the second Koji couldn’t remain on the carrier.”

“No one said anything about abandoning or leaving. Koji didn’t say he wanted to leave, did he?” Shouyou stated as he twiddled his thumbs while sitting on the side of Goshiki’s bed.

“Koji could regret that decision. He could regret not having his voice heard. He could regret taking orders from me. He could regret being on this team. He could even regret joining the defenses.

“Did we really never listen to Koji on that day?” Kei wondered. “Did he actually say he wanted to abandon the mission?”

“Koji was closest to Koganegawa, did Koganegawa know?” Shouyou asked.

“It doesn’t matter if he knew or not, we, no I didn’t listen to Koji and that’s that,” Goshiki looked angry.

“Goshiki, you need to calm down,” Shouyou reached over and grabbed Goshiki’s hand and held it tightly. “Listen, and you listen too Kei, no matter what we think we did or didn’t do, Koji, Koji came along anyway. Don’t beat yourself up over it. I won’t beat myself over it.”

“Are you heartless?’ Kei asked.

“I’m tired of crying, tired of blaming. We need to stop,” Shouyou faced the window. “I know you did this too in the mission, but you’re not going to do this here.”

Goshiki’s tightened hands quickly relaxed. Shouyou was right, now is a time of rest and not a time of mourning and blaming.

“…” Kei only looked up in acknowledgement. “Wise words.”

“There’s the Kei we know, and you Goshiki?”

“I’m fine.”

“No one is fine today. That’s a lie, try again,” Shouyou shook his head disapprovingly. He quickly squeezed Goshiki’s palms and then loosened and held them as Goshiki spoke.

“Okay, I lied. I’m actually angry and disappointed in myself. I don’t blame you, Shouyou, and you Kei. But I blame myself. No matter what you all say, you’re not the captain. I am. Any and everything comes down on me. I shouldn’t have left those two down there. I thought it was the safest place,” Goshiki said.

“It was a safe place, we all survived miraculously. Koganegawa did too, so all of these places were safe at that point in time. Koganegawa’s should have been just as safe as ours. We were in that room and found nothing wrong. But we were not in it when the lighthouse was being attacked,” Kei recalled the events that led them to split up, and the events that led them to panic. “I’m sure Koji and Koganegawa knew how safe that area was.” Kei grew silent.

 “Why didn’t we just race back there to hunker down,” Shouyou added

“We, I mean, I was so focused on the mission. I shouldn’t have risked it,” Goshiki stated.

“If you hadn’t continued we probably wouldn’t be here right now. They wouldn’t have sent out a team to rescue us,” Kei clasped his hands together. “It’s tragic, but it saved us.”

Everyone sat in silence as they realized the sacrifice they made.

“What would we have even done if we tried to go to them?” Shouyou asked. Goshiki and Kei turned to look at him. Goshiki only just realized that Shouyou’s arm was in a sling, he remembered the injury Shouyou sustained and how it made his arm useless.

“If they were injured, we would have been stuck with nothing to do,” Kei looked towards the floor. “So we couldn’t have really don’t anything at all.”

“But,” Goshiki gripped his sheets tightly.

“Who knows, it could have been more than just Koji who didn’t make it,” Kei added. “We’re kind of pitiful, really. Two of us get injured and we can’t do anything. I was injured too and I couldn’t even do anything.”

“Koganegawa’s the real hero here,” Goshiki let loose of the sheets.

“He is,” Shouyou turned to face Goshiki and started to smile.

Warmth quickly flowed all over the room as they seemed to be united in their thoughts of praise, appreciation, thanksgiving, and gratitude for Koganegawa’s valiant efforts. Goshiki quickly thought of the scene that unfolded when they were about to save Koji. Koganegawa, who had presumably taken heavy damage for hours before, standing his ground and keeping attackers from striking Koji was something that might have been out of a movie or even an epic legend of old. It was stunning and just unforgettable. He was glad that his teammates felt the same way.

The door to the room opened and two people walked in, one was an adult who was well respected at Shiratorizawa. Tasked as the one in charge of the day to day operations of the teams he advised, he looked the part. Black business suit, stylish metal framed glasses, and a smile that made you instantly warm up to him, he was one who would be expected to visit any injured parties. He carried a clipboard and a bag of “get well” soon items. Behind him followed an older man close to being a senior. He stomped into the room, almost angrily, but quickly tried to put on a much calmer expression. Dressed in Shiratorizawa issued track suit, he looked like he was coming from practice with the different squads.

“On behalf of the administration of Shiratorizawa Academy, we bring our regards,” the suited man, Akira Saitou, presented the bag of “get well” goods to the boys. Seeing Shouyou’s sling, he quickly took out the contents and placed them on the table. Several envelopes with cards were opened and placed on the table. Next several boxes of chocolates were taken out. Shouyou’s drooling mouth signaled for Akira to open one of the boxes which he placed in Shouyou’s lap. The final item, though, left them all almost silent tethering on the edge of crying, the only sound being Shouyou gulping down the piece of caramel chocolate he ate.   The item was a framed photo of the day they were assembled as a team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The shiratorizawa conversation in this chapter is actually one of my most memorable moments writing this. I like to think semi and ushijima have this sort of relationship where he is the only one who would stand up to whatever he says at times. Well thats how I interpret his character sometimes. In any case, I hope my take of them was at least in some ways faithful. 
> 
> Ive been rereading Haikyuu!! I kind of want to do another story for these characters, hmmmmm.
> 
> Thanks for reading I push through these murky waters of writing fanfiction for a rare pair. Also perhaps this is ultra slow burn status.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goshiki recalls the day he met his team members. 
> 
> Additionally, Goshiki and Shouyou find some downtime, enjoying the dorm room experience.

Chapter 10

Goshiki stared anxiously at the hallway just behind the corner of the glass enclosed CIC he sat in. Summoned by Shirabu, he wondered what it could be. No he knew what it could be, the time for him to meet the four people who would form his unit, Shiratorizawa-3; Koji Izumi, Shouyou Hinata, Kei Tsukishima, and Kanji Koganegawa. He scrolled through the one page profiles of each member on his wristband, which he had memorized word for word, but he wouldn’t tell anyone that. He couldn’t sleep ever since it was sent to him the day before. The anticipation, the moment he’d be the one called captain, had been too much to sleep over. It was finally happening; it was finally here. There, in the corner of his eye was his role model, Ushijima. He stood to stand to get ready but looked on dumbly as Ushijima only walked by the door of the room, passed it, and continued on down the hall. Goshiki’s head followed him as he vanished from eyesight. Soon the door opened.

“You should see your face,” Tendou said amidst laughing.

“What’s wrong with my face,” Goshiki said flustered. He remained standing but straightened up hoping he didn’t look embarrassed.

“I don’t know, just the way you were looking ready for Ushijima to come in here.”

“I was not expecting him to come in here,” Goshiki retorted quickly almost defensively.

Tendou only laughed some more. He was soon pushed out the way as Semi entered the room.

“We don’t have time for games. Goshiki, your teammates are here and waiting. If you would follow us we can introduce you,” Semi looked on the verge of getting angry, the vibes seemed directed towards Tendou.

“I have some other stuff to do so I’ll see you later, bye bye,” Tendou said as he waved and exited the room.

“What did you even come here for?” Semi said.

“I was bored,” Tendou called back as he rounded the corner exiting out of sight.

“I can never understand him,” Semi sighed and scratched his head. “Ready, captain?”

“Y,yes,” Goshiki said. He was very nearly shaking in excitement as he followed Semi down the hallway and to the elevator. He would lie if he were asked to remember what Semi was talking to him about in the elevator down. As each floor passed Goshiki moved closer and closer to the door of the elevator. At one point his head touched it caused him to back backwards slightly but he didn’t notice anything other than his rising heartbeat and the soft chuckling from his side. The elevator reached the designated level and he rushed out fast. However, he soon stopped as he realized he didn’t know where to go. Goshiki turned around and noticed Semi mouthing the words “this door,” as he pointed to one that Goshiki passed.

The room he entered was one he has never been in before. The far end of the room, the longest side, was a large panel of floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the large open grounds of Shiratorizawa Academy and the residential and market area beyond the towering walls. Sitting down one would have a view of the wide expanse of the sky and catch the peaks of the mountains beyond. Beside the window were several small tropical leafy plants that added a calm aesthetic to the room. Sitting at the large round table adjacent to the window were the familiar faces Goshiki knew only from the file he read.

Goshiki stood speechless as he didn’t know what to say. Should he say their names as he introduces himself? Would they introduce themselves? Why weren’t they standing, didn’t they know proper procedure and etiquette? Didn’t they know who he was? He smiled awkwardly as they turned to look at him. Of course, they didn’t know who he was, enlistees wouldn’t know who they were assigned to in advance. They’d only show up and get assigned one day out of the blue.

“I can’t take this anymore,” Semi said while smiling. “Goshiki, if you will, take a seat.”

Goshiki coughed awkwardly. He took a seat across from the four boys in the room.

“Today you all are going to be a team known as Shiratorizawa-3. As the third unit of Shiratorizawa, you all will play a pivotal role in relieving the two main teams of some of their duties. As you know the mass appearance of the otherworldly creatures still remains fresh on our minds. They continue to threaten human lives. We, as members of Shiratorizawa must do our part in protecting human lives and allowing humanity to prosper again,” Semi stated with fully rehearsed conviction.

“Shouyou, pay attention,” the glasses wearing boy, Kei Tsukishima, Goshiki remembered, seemed to have kicked the orange haired boy, Hinata Shouyou, who was now bent over rubbing his leg under the table.

“I am, you didn’t have to kick me,” Shouyou whispered.

“You’re making a scene,” Kei whispered back.

“It’s not important anyway, it’s the same thing Captain Sawamura used to say all the time to us. I have it memorized.”

“You do have a point.”

Goshiki started to panic as he was distracted by the scene unfolding. He looked back and forth from Semi to the two boys and noticed the growing aggravation and annoyance being played out on his face. The transformation from looking proud to soon scowling was something he had seen far too often. He wanted to whisper to get their attention but he sat too far away.

“Ahem,” Semi stopped talking as he looked squarely at Shouyou and Kei. The smirks quickly fell off their face as they looked to the table.

“Is he Captain Sawamura’s long lost brother? He looks just as scary as him.” Goshiki couldn’t hear who said it but the next thing he heard was a chair being pushed back.

“Since you all are so familiar would you like to do my job for me?” Although the sun was shining brightly into the room with heat that flowed from the windows, the temperature suddenly dropped. Everyone shivered as they looked at Semi who seemed a few ticks away from exploding.

“If we can skip the,” the boy sitting on the end, kind of plain looking with black hair, Koji, Goshiki remembered, spoke nervously, “introduction then I think we can be fine.”

“Based on what we’re wearing I think we are all familiar with the threats. We have Shiratorizawa, Karasuno, and Datekougyou here, major defense forces in the region,” Kei added.

“How’d you know where I was from?” the last boy with a bunny ear’s shaped hair style thing going on over his forehead and dressed in a green and white tracksuit spoke.

“Your colors,” Kei whispered as an aside as if it was a secret he was trying not to reveal to the group.

“That’s right,” Koganegawa laughed heartily.

By now Semi was on the verge of exploding.

“Semi, why don’t we introduced ourselves,” Goshiki stated quickly. “I, I, I, I’ll start us off okay?”

Semi nodded slightly as he went back to take a seat.

“I’m first year Goshiki Tsutomu, your captain. Please call me Goshiki. As your captain I’ll, I’ll do everything to protect you. If you try hard, I’ll try harder. If you kill a lot, I’ll kill even more. If you do well, I’ll do even better. And if you are hurt, harmed, or in any danger, then you can count on me to get you out of there. We’re all in this together.”

“I don’t know how I can follow that,” Kei added after everyone stared at Goshiki for a few seconds. “I’m Kei Tsukishima, please call me Kei. I’m from Karasuno which you can tell by the outfit Shouyou and I are wearing. Please take care of us, Captain.”

“I’m Shouyou Hinata. Please call me Shouyou. I’m also from Karasuno. When I got the call that I’d be coming to Shiratorizawa I was afraid but that fear disappeared when I saw Kei at the front entrance. I got very excited. Though I don’t know why he tried to keep a surprise from me,” Shouyou stated as he turned to look happily at Kei. Kei tried to hide his emotion but anyone in the room could tell he was elated over seeing Shouyou. Shouyou continued, “we were on the same team and we work good together, p-p-please let, I mean please pair us up, please. And thank you. I’m glad to be in action again.”

“I’m Koji Izumi. I’m probably the weakest person here and I don’t know why I was chosen but if possible, I will try to work hard and do my best. I don’t have any record that makes me above average, or even any experience outside of simulations, however I do work well with strategy. I promise to help you all succeed.”

“And I’m Kanji Koganegawa, but please call me Koganegawa. I’m from Datekougyou and like Koji I don’t have any record or experience that makes me above average, but before I left Date Tech I was on one of their elite teams doing simulations and performed well enough to get awards. Please help me get better and get experience Captain Goshiki.”

“And I’m Semi Eita part of Shiratorizawa-1. Ushijima and Tendou are also on my team.” Immediately Shouyou and Kei’s eyes looked downwards.

“Ushiwaka,” Shouyou said softly, almost out of admiration but also with some apprehension.

“We’ll mainly interact with your captain but if you ever need anything don’t hesitate to talk to us, and that goes for you as well Goshiki,” Semi added. “Anyway now that introductions are over, let’s take aphoto.”

The group of five, Shiratorizawa-3 stood in front of the window as Semi took the photo. Koji and  Koganegawa sat on the floor as Shouyou stood behind him. The tuft of orange hair was just below the chin of Kei, who rested his arms on Shouyou’s shoulders. Beside him was Koji who smiled softly and Goshiki who looked ecstatic.

\--

Just entering the dorm room was a refreshing experience. The familiar purple and white polka dot curtains parted a quarter of the way allowing the setting sun’s final rays to bask the room with a natural orange hue captivated Goshiki enough to make him pause. Shouyou’s small manga collection on a bookshelf that spanned the space between their two beds, his LCD monitor connected to one of the last mass produced videogame consoles, and the framed photo of him and Kei wearing a Karasuno volleyball uniform celebrating a winning match, made Goshiki smile as he started walking further into their room. Not having any photos of the sort, he now sat the one he received earlier on his desk, beside his computer. He turned it so that he would have a view of it from his bed. He stared at it for several minutes.

“It’s so good to be back in here,” Shouyou sighed as he sat on his bed. “You never know how much you’ll miss your bed until you’re gone.”

“It’s better than any hospital bed,” Goshiki turned towards Shouyou and smiled.

“Better than the floor too.”

“Yes. Better than that.”

Goshiki sat in his desk chair as he thought of what to do. Shouyou’s silence made him think he was asleep so he didn’t ask him anything. He turned to look at the photo some more and specifically at Koji.

“So he’s really gone?” Goshiki whispered softly as he glanced from the photo and to his computer. It soon beeped to life.

“Are you really going to do that right now?” Shouyou asked from afar.

“What else will I do?” Goshiki turned to look.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. By now…” Shouyou trailed off.

Goshiki glanced at the photo.

“You’re right.”

“I mean if you’re ready for that, then go ahead but I just don’t think I’m…It’s still…”

“I want to stop thinking about it, but I just can’t. I don’t even know why I even put this picture here if I’m trying to stop thinking about.”

“You can’t just forget someone. It doesn’t work that way,” Shouyou sat up. “Trust me.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?” Goshiki turned towards Shouyou. He looked confused and lost.

“Goshiki, eh, uhm, I know,” Shouyou stood up. “Let’s just go to the hot bath and relax. That will take our minds off things, even for a bit.”

“Well,” Goshiki looked back at his computer. It hummed along as if nothing was amiss with its owner’s feelings. Seeing that it wasn’t as if there was work to be missed, Goshiki agreed with a nod.

“Perfect, but I’ll need your help,” Shouyou smiled weakly as he turned his eyes towards his arm. Currently his hand was hanging freely. Goshiki could see he was trying to move his hand around but it appeared it wasn’t moving by as much as he was exerting. Or maybe the pain was too great.

“Didn’t they look at that?” Goshiki asked.

“They did but I,” Shouyou turned towards the splint laying on the bed. “I don’t really like wearing that thing. It’s so uncomfortable.”

“Well you can’t take it to the bath anyway, but when we come back, you better put it on.”

“Okay mom,” Shouyou stuck his tongue out.

“It’s my responsibility as your captain to make sure you’re in top condition,” Goshiki proclaimed with a big grin.

“There’s the Goshiki we know,” Shouyou hummed joyfully as he quickly gathered a pair of orange and black boxer briefs, and his strawberry flavored bath soap.

“I’ll carry it,” Goshiki picked up Shouyou’s items and added it to his things.

As they made their way to the bath they stopped in front of Kei and Koganegawa’s room. The door was closed but from outside they could hear the soft sounds of sobbing from two people inside. Shouyou motioned to turn the doorknob, but Goshiki quickly grabbed his hand, and pulled him away.

“We should give them some time,” Goshiki said softly. He was afraid the people inside would hear them.

“But they’re hurting,” Shouyou looked back toward the door.

“So are we, but probably in a way that we can’t even hope to understand,” Goshiki’s voice wavered noticeably.

Shouyou looked as if he wanted to continue the conversation but then noticed Goshiki appeared to be on the verge of tears. He quickly tugged Goshiki forward as they continued down the hallways to the baths.

Goshiki now wearing only a small towel around his waist placed the last of his belongings in the small basket. Once he ensured everything was properly tucked in and placed into one of the cubbyholes in this small room, he proceeded to walk towards the door to the open bath. As he took one step he suddenly felt a prodding on his arm. He turned to look and Shouyou, slightly red faced, looking at him.

“I know it’s kind of awkward but help please?” Shouyou begged nervously.

“J-j-just your shirt?” Goshiki asked as he anxiously looked around the room.  Odd, there was no one else in here he thought. Usually at this time of day, people used the showers or baths to wash off after their post school training events.

“Yes. I tried but I can’t lift it up too far,” Shouyou quickly tried to lift his shirt up with his non dominant hand but found it to be too difficult. Even amidst grunting and heavy panting, no matter how hard he tugged upwards it seemed to be unable to negotiate his upper body.

“Here, r-r-raise both your arms,” Goshiki said as he moved closer. Shouyou let go off his shirt as he allowed Goshiki to glide it upwards.

“Cold,” Shouyou commented after he shivered from Goshiki’s hand brushing lightly against his stomach.

“Sorry,” Goshiki mumbled as Shouyou’s shirt was now in his hand.

“It’s fine,” Shouyou said softly. He quickly grabbed his shirt and threw in his basket. His shorts, and boxer briefs, socks and shoes came off quickly as he rushed behind Goshiki.

“I hate to be a bother,” Shouyou said as they entered the hot and humid room. “But can you also,” he pointed toward the handheld showerhead by one of the stools that sat in an area where you could take a quick wash before getting in the main tub area.

“You can’t do it?” Goshiki looked puzzled but avoided looking at Shouyou.

Shouyou simply moved his arm around.

“Oh I, that’s, that’s right,” Goshiki said. “Well the bath seems to be all ours,” Goshiki quickly added with a laugh.

“Kei and I always come at this time because there’s no one here,” Shouyou walked over to a stool and sat on it.

“You and Kei?” Goshiki sat on a stool and pulled it close to Shouyou. He quickly doused them both down in some hot water.

“That felt so good, do it again please?” Shouyou leaned a bit backwards as Goshiki sprayed them down again.

“So good!” Shouyou was now resting completely on Goshiki’s chest. Goshiki looked in all directions hoping there was no one seeing what was happening. But like Shouyou had said there was no one there.

“Do you and Kei?” Goshiki meekly asked.

“I didn’t hear you,” Shouyou asked as he sat up. “Do the shampoo next, it has conditioner already in it so it saves some time.”

“Right,” Goshiki grabbed the bottle and quickly squirted some in his hand. He rubbed some of it into Shouyou’s hair. The smell of sweet strawberries quickly filled the air causing Shouyou to exhale as if completely relaxed. Goshiki resisted the urge though it was difficult. It seemed to be one of those aromatherapy cosmetic products, something which cost quite a bit, but was more refreshing and relieving than his standard issue military grade stuff. He quickly applied some to his hair too.

“Well I did hear you,” Shouyou said as he continued to just sit and sniff. “It was just habit. Due to a few things at Karasuno we just ended up sticking together. And here, with no one we knew, I guess we just kept sticking together even during bath time.”

“You could have asked me,” Goshiki was about to spray them down with hot water, but put the showerhead nozzle down. “We’re in the same room.”

“You’re never around after we train, you go off to different places. Or sometimes you look really busy doing captain stuff.”

“Close your eyes,” Goshiki said softly. Goshiki thought Shouyou sounded disappointed and kind of felt bad for it. He quickly sprayed some water over Shouyou’s head and brushed his hand around it to spread the water over all the lather.

“Some more, I got some shampoo on my face.”

“Right,” the nozzle came to life again Goshiki squeezed it sending a nice rain shower over Shouyou’s forehead and face. As he saw the last of the lather roll down Shouyou’s leg, he shut it off.

“I’m not always busy,” Goshiki mumbled as they both sat there.

“Turn around, let me do you,” Shouyou said quickly.

“You don’t need to,” Goshiki quickly added.

“Come on, I insist.”

“Oh, Ohkay, but I’m not even injured. It doesn’t feel right,” Goshiki said. He fidgeted nervously. As Shouyou shifted to face him, he avoided eye contact. Goshiki quickly thought of tons of excuses. It was just such a strange situation, no one ever offered to wash his hair for him or even do as much as even hold the nozzle to spray him down with water. Actually along that same train of thought, no one had even ever handed him a bottle of shampoo or soap to use. He focused his eyes back on Shouyou who only seemed to nod his head happily and kind of motioned for Goshiki to turn around.

“Fine,” Goshiki mentioned as he finally turned around on the stool. Soon he felt water rushing over him like a torrential downpour. Unlike the chilly water that opened from the heavens in the midst of a thunderstorm, this was a very refreshing and hot, though not tingling hot, rain of water. Goshiki relaxed his shoulders as it continued to pour on him. Tension he hadn’t even realized he had, soon left him as his posture started to slack off on the stool. Once the rain shower of heated water ended, Goshiki felt a small warm hand rub through his hair spreading the creamy strawberry smelling shampoo into a nice lather. Oddly, even the one hand moving through his hair seemed to be as effective as two hands. It was as if Shouyou had a natural knack for messaging the scalp.

“You like that?” Shouyou said as he continued to move his hand around Goshiki’s head.

“It feels better than when I do it myself,” Goshiki clearly sounded impressed.

“I wish I could use both my hands. My hand is kind of getting tired.”

“You don’t have to do anymore I can finish it myself,” Goshiki threw both his hands into his hair and rubbed it. It didn’t have the same feeling as when Shouyou did it. Actually it felt like an embarrassing “try hard” type of attempt that left him disappointed. “Done,” he said sadly.

“Here it comes.”

Goshiki closed his eyes as he heard the showerhead firing up. The warm water returned to wash down all the lather.

“Move your hands through,” Shouyou said as he moved the showerhead around. Goshiki rubbed his hands around helping to remove all the lather that caught the multiple days’ worth of dirt, grim, and scum. He imagined it all being liberated from his black follicles and running down his back and legs and down to the floor out the drain and into the world beyond. “I feel so clean,” he stated voice a bit distorted by the water raining down his face.

“So do I.”

Reflexively Goshiki shook his head once the water was turned off. “Shoot, my bad,” Goshiki shouted as he remembered Shouyou was behind him. He quickly turned around and noticed Shouyou with one eye closed, and his arm trying to remove the splashed water from his mouth and nose. Goshiki quickly took the towel wrapped around his waist off to rub Shouyou’s face for him.

“I’m just so used to do it after I shower to help get the water off the edges,” Goshiki lightly rubbed and spoke. “Really, I am so sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Shouyou extended his hand to stop Goshiki from rubbing. “Anyway should we get in now?’

They both turned towards the large open roughly the size of a large dining room. The vapor rising from the water looked very attractive right now, Goshiki thought. He unconsciously moved closer to it as Shouyou followed behind.

“Yeah,” Goshiki said as he stuck one of his toes in to test the water. Sensing it was hotter than he expected he quickly brought his toe back above the water and chuckled. “Hot!”

“First time?” Shouyou asked. He had a strange look of delight.

“It’s been awhile, I forgot how the water was,” Goshiki lowered his foot in again, slowly and tenderly. Shouyou seemed oddly captivated and stared at his foot as it went lower and lower into the water. Goshiki, once it got to his ankle, slowly moved his other foot in and lowered him slowly. Once he was crouching he extended his hand out to Shouyou.

Shouyou edged closer, taking off his towel and placing it on the floor. He then extended a foot in as he grabbed onto Goshiki’s hand. Goshiki grabbed tight and helped guide Shouyou down.

“Thanks, though I didn’t really,” Shouyou said softly but was interrupted.

“I don’t want you to fall, you can’t exactly land on your hand, can you?” Goshiki said nervously. He didn’t even know why he extended his hand like he did, but it seemed like the right thing to do. He couldn’t find himself looking at Shouyou as he held his hand and gripped, so he only looked downwards focused on Shouyou’s legs and feet with the excuse that he’d make sure he would not find himself tripping and falling.

Once Shouyou was standing Goshiki let go and moved over to the edge of the bath, he sat down, legs flat and forward, water reaching up just below his shoulders. His body slid a bit lower until his chin touched the top of the water. He closed his eyes as he let himself be fully surrounded by the heated water. It was calming, warm, and relaxing.

The water soon moved in a wavelike motion which he found calming. So calm, in fact, that he was about to drift off asleep. Suddenly, like a ninja, another warm presence found its way right in front of him. It slid back, planting itself snuggly right in between his legs and back pressed right up to his chest .The smell of fresh strawberries soon came into his nostrils. It was sooting and so was the warm presence. His arms found their way wrapping around the body in front of him

“Shouyou?” Goshiki said drowsily as he opened his eyes.

Shouyou didn’t say anything. However, he did press his back against Goshiki’s chest and snuggled in closer to him.

Goshiki let himself be comforted by this newfound warmth, warmth that he found himself lacking and surprisingly, realizing that it was something he had been longing for. Perhaps because of this, he wrapped his arms a bit more tightly around Shouyou and rested his head on his shoulders. Shouyou rubbed his cheek against Goshiki’s gently nudging him in adoration. Goshiki’s leg soon became tangled in one of Shouyou’s legs to let him feel his warmth even more, closing him in comfortable like a body length pillow. He wanted to get even more close to Shouyou, to feel even more of him if possible. Shouyou moaned pleasantly in response to the touch, moving one of his feet and casually brushing against Goshiki’s foot. Goshiki chuckled as he realized it was kind of tickling him. Shouyou laughed lightly too.

\--

“Wow that was refreshing,” Shouyou exclaimed as he lay sprawled on top of his covers. Wearing only his orange and black boxer briefs (with a crow etched on the side), he let himself air dry. In front of him was one of his favorite manga titles.

“That was a great idea,” Goshiki said too as he lay on his bed. He too wore only his boxer briefs. However, unlike Shouyou, he simply lay there as he looked around the room. With no interest to look at his emails or get caught up on the day’s news, he stared off into distance as he let his mind wander. Kei and Koganegawa appeared to still be in their room but hadn’t emerged. He and Shouyou agreed to give them more time to cope, but he had to admit he kind of wanted to see Koganegawa. It had been a week since he last saw him. Knowing how his teammate was, or rather, just the chance to see him in person was something he desired. One thing he knew now was that he needed to cherish those around him more and see them more, you never know when they will be gone from your life.

\--

Goshiki suddenly felt a stirring beneath his sheets. Thinking nothing of it, he turned to his side to face the window with the curtains parted. The full moon shone brightly through the partly cloudy skies illuminating the room in a serene light. He counted the stars that he could see to drift back off to the land of dreams.

\--

“Please don’t leave me,” a soft whimper, barely audible, sounded close to Goshiki’s ear. He opened his eyes and nearly rolled over. However, he was halted by an arm holding him tightly. He thought of trying to pry himself free but stopped when he heard more.

“I’m afraid, please don’t go. Stop!!!” Shouyou sounded as he gripped Goshiki tightly.

“Shouyou, Shouyou, wake up,” Goshiki said frantically as he tugged on Shouyou’s arms. Goshiki continued to pry but gave up as he seemed to make no headway in moving Shoyou’s arms.

“No, no, noooo!” Shouyou cried out, he began to kick around and whimper.

After having his leg kicked painfully, Goshiki immediately used all his force to quickly shake Shouyou awake. “You need to get up now, it’s just a nightmare. It’s all it is. I’m not leaving you, Shouyou. Okay?”

Shouyou quieted down though made the occasional sound.

Goshiki started moving one hand lightly through Shouyou’s hair. Shouyou eased upwards into the motion, the touch that Goshiki provided seemingly comforting him in this nightmarish time. Goshiki continued to do it and just repeated to Shouyou that he was there and wouldn’t leave him. After what felt like an eternity, Shouyou seemed to quiet down. He snuggled a bit closer to Goshiki, head completely against Goshiki’s bare chest on the cover.

Soon any crying sounds faded away leaving only the sound of soft even breathing to fill the air. As soon as Goshiki felt the now gentle rise and fall of Shouyou’s stomach on him, he quickly loosened Shouyou’s hold on him. Afraid of waking him, however, he didn’t remove them completely. He lay there facing the window again as he remained there for Shouyou’s sake.

He couldn’t recall anytime that Shouyou had shown any sort of issues with sleeping. Usually he was a pretty deep sleeper, sleeping through the multiple alarms Goshiki set to wake up at the crack of dawn for training with his seniors. He’d come back from training three hours later and he’d see Shouyou still sleeping. Was it stress? Was Shouyou feeling stressed out? He didn’t seem that way, Goshiki thought. Actually nothing even seemed like it was bothering him. He seemed the same as usual, well almost, he was a bit clingier than usual. Or maybe that was an understatement, he was very clingy now, the whole bath scene was unforgettable though Shouyou never said anything after they got out, wordlessly getting dressed and coming to the room. If he wouldn’t say anything, then Goshiki wouldn’t either. And now this, this, was a first Goshiki realized. Wow was all he could think about as he stared at the moon. Before he knew it, he had drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had fun writing this chapter. Its always good to have a period of relaxing moments after all that intense action of the past chapters. 
> 
> I actually love this story. I dont know, I guess its a fresh take to read something you wrote awhile back and experience it again. 
> 
> IMO I sometimes really love some of the fics that are so out there, you just feel sucked in to see what the writer does with the already made characters and tossing them in an AU that they wouldnt otherwise ever be in. 
> 
> I hope they are somewhat canonical takes or believable here.
> 
> Also, hey I got to put in a volleyball easter egg or two ^_^.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goshiki's crew receives their punishment for their critical mission loss potentially starting the path towards Goshiki losing his captain ranking. Struggling to cope with this stumbling block as well as the growing feelings of guilt and responsibility, Goshiki takes a moment to bond with Shouyou by undergoing a simple training regime.

The vibration from the wrist band roused Goshiki awake. He cracked open his eyes but was blinded by the sunlight which seemed aimed directly towards his face. He turned over to the side but realized it was a pointless effort. The wristband would keep vibrating no matter what he did. He yawned generously, rubbed his eyes and sat up. As he looked at his wristband to tell it to stop, he realized it was an urgent call.

“Hello,” he spoke into it. Realizing he sounded hoarse and kind of like he just woke up, he coughed to the side then spoke into it again, he sounded more confident and awake.

“Where were you, did you forget about the meeting today?” Shirabu’s voice came through loud and clear.

“Meeting?” Goshiki said as if in a daze. “What meeting?”

Shirabu sighed.  “The one I emailed you about yesterday. Don’t tell me you deleted it without reading it again?”

“Email?” Goshiki quickly replayed yesterday’s events. He came home from the hospital then lay in the room for a bit, bathed with Shouyou, and went to bed. He couldn’t remember reading any email. “I just came back from the hospital so I wasn’t in the mood to check through any email.”

Shirabu sighed after a lengthy pause. “Goshiki.”

“Yes”

“Are you serious about this? About being a captain?”

“I’m serious. I was selected for how good I am,” Goshiki assured.

 “You know I could always replace you if you’re not up for it,” Shirabu responded as if Goshiki hadn’t said anything.

“That, what are you talking about?” Goshiki asked sounding very confused.

“Well,” Shirabu took a long pause as if he were struggling to find the words to say. Goshiki heard him quickly move from a location that had a lot of background noise to an area that seemed to have none. “As I was about to say, you and your team are being suspended for the time being.”

Goshiki quickly gasped loudly as he fell back on his bed in shock. Suspended, that was often reserved for people who did something that tarnished the integrity of Shiratorizawa. People who had behavior issues or more typically, insubordination issues, were typically the only ones to be subjected to this punishment.

“I don’t understand, I didn’t do anything wrong,” Goshiki spoke as if trying to start an argument.

“I didn’t say you did, but it’s the procedure. This isn’t something new or unexpected,” Shirabu spoke quickly. “Anyway, I’m just saying, if you aren’t serious about this then at least let them know and give them my name. I’d gladly take over for you.”

“I…” Goshiki had no response.

“At least let your team know. If you’re unable to continue then the rules do let you choose someone else to take over your squad. Just have the courtesy to let your teammates know so they can be prepared.”

“I won’t be doing that.”

“Why not, do you really think anyone would want to stay on a team where people get killed because an incompetent leader didn’t show any concern for their safety?”

“I do show concern for their safety.”

“Then explain how someone died, or how one person ended up having a broken wrist, or how someone else had a broken arm? To me, those seem like injuries that shouldn’t have happened, especially when it’s a mission to place boxes on the field in safe places.”

“Things beyond our control happened.”

“Goshiki, do you only have excuses? Someone died. When will it hit you that someone died under your watch?”

Silence.

“Have you thought of what you are going to say to Koji’s family and friends? They won’t want excuses; they will want the truth to how he died. They’ll want someone or something to blame.”

“I’m not making excuses. I’m not.” Goshiki’s voice was a whisper.

“Anyway, I have to go now. But just think about it.” Shirabu hung up afterwards, leaving Goshiki with more mixed emotions. If he were to abandon his team would they be forgiving and perform the best that they can under the new leader? Maybe he should abandon the team he thought. He still hadn’t seen Kei or Koganegawa and was struggling to understand Shouyou. The bigger issue was he had even caused Koji to die. What would this mean for the fate of his team? Would they stay with him knowing full well his orders led to a comrades death? He sort of knew the positions that Kei and Shouyou had over the matter but Koganegawa was still an enigma. For all he knew, he could say he wasn’t comfortable with Goshiki’s leadership abilities and decide to resign from the team. With his combat record, he’d be sought after by many teams. Or he could resign because he just thought he wasn’t ready for field combat. Sometimes when people go into the field once, they realize its’ not for them and immediately try to change jobs in Shiratorizawa. He hoped Koganegawa wasn’t like that, he was already the lead attacker on their team. Consistently he was also in the top performers in attack scores out of all of Shiratorizawa Academy.

The door to the room opened quickly. Shouyou popped his head in.

“Whoa you’re finally up?” Shouyou asked. “It’s so close to noon.” He walked in afterwards.

“Noon, it’s that late?” Goshiki quickly wiped away the sad face he knew he was wearing and put on a more cordial smile. He couldn’t look worried or disappointed around Shouyou or the other team members. What if they wanted to leave because he was showing how weak he was as a leader? He looked around for an alarm clock to fiddle with to distract Shouyou. He spotted a metallic red analog clock that he had. True enough, the hands were close to noon.

“Yeah, I was going to wake you but I thought you could use the rest. You looked so exhausted when I looked at you earlier today.”

“You should have forced me awake.” Goshiki considered telling him about the meeting he missed because he overslept. However, he didn’t want to cause Shouyou to panic and feel at fault.

“No, I didn’t want to. And, more importantly, it’s not like we have anywhere to go or anything to do,” Shouyou sounded a bit disappointed. “Being suspended is way worst when you’re the one being punished. I never thought of how limiting it feels being suspended.”

“So, you read the email today?”

“It was sent like an hour ago.”

“So.”

“I don’t know why they had to punish all of us, our friend just died. They should let us keep active so we can move on and do other stuff. Banishing us to only stay in the base, it’s like…” Shouyou trailed off as he thought of the word.

“House arrest,” Goshiki added.

“Yes that, except like we can’t do anything.”

“I don’t agree with it either. Even if I did something wrong then they shouldn’t force everyone to just sit here twiddling our thumbs. You all at least deserve the training for the next battle. No one wins if we’re all grossly unprepared. We already saw how we did in some matches where you’re killed by someone weak just because you’re attacking in the wrong strategy.”

“Do you think Koji was killed because of a bad strategy?”

Goshiki stared wide eyed at Shouyou. Shouyou was rearranging the books in his manga collection. Odd, Goshiki thought as the books had already been arranged in alphabetical order just last week.

“Uhm,” Goshiki realized his desk could have used some rearranging. However as hard as he focused on the loose pencils in his case, or that keyboard that was angled a half degree more than he liked, no thoughts to hold his attention came. The only thing he could immediately think about was the question Shouyou asked.

“I,” Shouyou sighed as he continued to move around items on his bookshelf. When he reached a plush brown teddy bear, wearing a purple and white bandana with his name on it, he stopped moving. He started to rub it and then continued to speak. “I just wonder what we could have done differently. What could I have done differently to change the outcome? How could I have been so weak to let you all down?”

“You, you didn’t let anyone down,” Goshiki assured softly. “Yeah, you didn’t let anyone down. You did everything right. You held the box. You enabled me to signal to get us out of there.”

“But,” Shouyou, holding the bear, turned towards Goshiki with a teary eye. “But it wasn’t fast enough. I was too late. If I hadn’t faltered, if I hadn’t lost my footing when the lighthouse started to move, Koji would still be here.”

“That’s,” Goshiki tried to find the right words. Any words, anything that he could say to reassure Shouyou that he was wrong would be helpful he thought.

Shouyou stood still and squeezed the bear tightly. He openly cried.

Goshiki recalled Shouyou in the hospital, seemingly saying the right things even going as far as suggesting that they avoid blaming or even mourning but now here he was still struggling to come to terms with what happened. Was he simply putting on a brave face to calm the others? Goshiki moved forward to Shouyou and pulled him into a hug. Though he had no words or anything to say he just wanted to show him that he cared.

“It’s all my fault, Goshiki, because of me, because I didn’t follow through when you had everything setup, he died. He won’t forgive me. His family, his friends, no one will forgive me for what I did.”

“Listen, Shouyou, I’m not blaming you. No one is blaming you for what happened,” Goshiki spoke softly as he hugged Shouyou tightly even rubbing circles on his back lightly.

Goshiki nudged Shouyou towards the bed, motioning for him to sit down on it. Once sitting he kneeled so that he was eye level with Shouyou.

“Shouyou,” Goshiki stated.

Shouyou rubbed the tears from his eyes as he looked at Goshiki. Goshiki thought he looked awful. The face of someone who was usually so happy, friendly, smiling, and warm now looked completely distraught. He looked like he was stuck in a state of not only mourning, but also on the verge of insurmountable grief and deep regret.

“Good,” Goshiki smiled lightly. “Do you think Koji wants to see you crying?”

Shouyou nodded his head negatively.

“That’s right, so why are you sitting here crying?”

“Because.”

“Because why?”

“Because, I, because I failed Koji.”

“No.” Goshiki said as he nodded his head. “You’re crying because you miss Koji.”

“I do miss him.” Shouyou hugged the teddy bear even tighter against his chest. The childlike innocence from Shouyou conveyed the purest of sad emotions.

“Yes, and so do I,” Goshiki resisted the urge to tear up. It was still too soon. But the time to be a strong captain was now. “But am I crying?”

“No, no you aren’t.”

“And why is that?”

“Because Koji wouldn’t want us to be sad.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Goshiki squeezed one of Shouyou’s knees. “Now why don’t you clean yourself up and we can do something fun?”

“Okay,” Shouyou smiled despite his watery eye. He hugged his bear one last time as he stood up. He hugged it with one arm while he reached to get a towel then dashed off to the restroom.

Goshiki stood and saw him off and smiled to himself. When Shouyou was out of sight, he immediately sighed and leaned into the door post. His heartbeat began to race. His vision quickly blurred. He moved a hand to his chest as he found himself struggling for air. He fell to the floor as realization hit. His failed strategic planning had now affected his team members at their very core. They were blaming themselves for his catastrophic failure to lead and guide. They were really ignoring his contributions and thinking it was due to their own weakness. What were they thinking? Why would they do this? Couldn’t they see it was his fault? Whose dumb orders had it been to take cover in a building with limited escape routes? It wasn’t Kei’s, it wasn’t Shouyou’s, it wasn’t Koganegawas, it wasn’t Koji’s, it was his. It was all Goshiki’s fault.

Emotions continued to explode within Goshiki. It was already a struggle to hold the tears in whenever anyone spoke to him about Koji, but now when he was face to face with Shouyou about it? It was a challenge. Tears threatened to burst through the flood gates when Shouyou was hugging that bear. That dumb bear and finding comfort in it, where was such a thing in Goshiki’s life?

But there was, Goshiki realized, as he finally regained his normal breathing. It wasn’t really his fault for getting them in that situation. It was simply the bad planning of the leadership. They gave them a mission that put them in a situation with impossible odds. Yes, there was no way that they could have succeeded with the knowledge they were sent out with. It wasn’t Goshiki’s fault or anyone on his team’s fault it was his. Goshiki earnestly believed this.

The soft squeal of the doorknob brought Goshiki out of his thoughts.

“What are you smirking for?” Shouyou asked as he held the bear by the arm.

“Not,” Goshiki coughed lightly. “Nothing.”

“Well you looked kind of creepy,” Shouyou laughed. “You reminded me of someone I knew from Karasuno.”

“Kei?”

“No, someone else,” Shouyou placed the bear back on the bookshelf. As he turned he looked rather melancholic. “Well enough of that, I kind of want to go out and train.”

Goshiki raised his eyebrows a little.

“Just you and I?” Goshiki asked.

“Yeah, unless you think Kei and Koganegawa would be up to it?”

“I don’t know if I want to get them involved just yet. I think when they are ready to, you know, open up, then they will let us know,” Goshiki looked at the wall that connected their two rooms. They had walked by their room a few more times since hearing sobbing from the room. Concern was on their mind but they believed in some privacy. Everyone copes in different ways, at least, that was what he was taught in his classes on being a captain.

“Okay, we can do that, let’s spend a little bit of time before lunch,” Goshiki picked up his Shiratorizawa issued towel and his exercise clothes as he dashed off the wash up.

\--

“Let’s just take it easy,” Goshiki mentioned. Standing in front of the LED panel in the CIC he scrolled through selections for different AI opponents. Ghosts, computerized versions for friends, existed in the system. Anyone who used the system to fight in this virtual world had their actions, including mannerisms, voice, their likeness, recorded into it. Anyone fighting could choose either AI versions of the monsters one would encounter in the world as well as against each other.

Both boys sat silent when Goshiki scrolled by Koji’s name in the system. Other analysts soon scrolled by.

“That’s too easy,” Shouyou said as Goshiki hovered on one of the analysts on Shiratorizawa-1.

“Right,” he continued scrolling and finally stopped on an actual creature.

“That’s good,” Shouyou mentioned.

“Alright,” Goshiki selected a Turt-class creature. This one appeared to take its name for the strong as steel like shell on its back. Spanning the size of a luxury car, but as slow as a tank, it was a defensive heavyweight. It could hit hard but it was easily avoidable. For a two-person team, it would be an easy challenge.

Shouyou and Goshiki moved to lay on the beds provided in the room. Although one could sit in a chair to connect, it was more common for people to lay down. Connecting to the virtual world required one to be sleeping. For most people, sleeping while upright was just impossible. Once they were lying down, they put their visors on and immediately initiated their connection to the battle system.  The visors, like the ones they wore on the field, were connected to the mainframe computer in the CIC which linked their consciousness to the battle system. Though the system linked their consciousness, some of their physical ailments would be transported to the field. For example, injuries, such as broken arms or legs, would exist in the world. However, if additional injuries were sustained they would not be transported back to the world with the user. So, if one broke a leg in battle, when they disconnected from the system their leg wouldn’t be broken. However, if they entered the virtual battle world with a broken bone, they would still have a broken bone in battle. The system enabled people with injuries to still have the chance to train and maintain their skills while they were recuperating.  

“System Link Engaged,” the female voice, whom Goshiki hadn’t realized he missed spoke directly into their mind.

“3, 2, 1,”

When Goshiki and Shouyou opened their eyes, they stood in the middle of a wide expanse. Enveloped in white light they shielded their eyes all around.

“Building world, Standby.”

The white light soon became interlaced with vertical and horizontal lines. Light particles flowed into the area filling some of the spaces in these lines. Building materials materialized in them. Some became tall skyscrapers towering above Shouyou and Kei. Others became deep depressions in the area they stood on quickly looking like the roofs of other smaller buildings. Yet others became even lower depressions. Color emerged next, painting these deep depressions shades of aqueous blue. Sparkles flowed over them giving the impressions of water shimmering in the light. An occasional fish could be scene jumping in the water. Birds swooped in to scoop up some of them. Higher up, windows soon appeared on the skyscrapers. The color gave way to multiple assortments of brick buildings, steel buildings, and buildings made of glass. Some of the glass buildings looked even more modern with full LCD panels being their entire side. Advertisements of popular brands of candy being eating by supermodels, luxury cars driven by popular sports drivers, and highlight reels of the hottest players of Shiratorizawa of the week were displayed. Where Shouyou and Goshiki stood a pool appeared in front of them fully equipped with a slide, a diving board, and a stand for a life guard. Pool and patio chairs were placed neatly along the side of the pool. Two stands, a lemonade and an ice cream stand, stood at two sides of the pool. A glass barrier surrounded two sides of the pool, safely blocking anyone from falling over the side of the building. Anyone standing close to it, could look down and see 100 floors below where they stood. Shockingly, buildings above them towered at least 50 floors higher than their floor. A building to their right was under construction, however, it too stood even taller than one of the tallest buildings beside them. A construction crane was turned and hung over where they stood, below it hung a massive set of steel beams and bricks on a platform.

“Well this is pretty high up,” Goshiki remarked as he walked near the edge of the building.

“The pool looks, WHOA!!!” Shouyou shouted. Goshiki quickly engaged his Meteora, the familiar set of palm sized cubes appearing instantly. He ran to Shouyou.

“What?” Goshiki asked quickly.

“The pool, look at the bottom of the pool,” Shouyou stood at the edge of the pool peering straight into it. When Goshiki looked over it he could see not only the water but the city below. He quickly fell backwards onto his behind.

“That is impossible,” Goshiki stated in shock and surprise.

“But look at it, it’s like you’re swimming in the sky.”

“I wouldn’t want to swim in the sky, what if it just broke. You would fall down, and down, and down, and go like “splat!”” Goshiki acted out the fall moving his fist from high in the air to lower and to his hand as he said splat with great emphasis.

“Stop,” Shouyou said laughing heartily. “It should be more like Sploosh!”

“A splat, look how far the fall is, you’d be flattened like a pancake.”

“But the water from up here would hit after you, so the splat would turn into a Sploosh.”

“Hey,” Goshiki stated after looking around, “Want to get in?”

“Sure, but we didn’t bring any clothes.”

Goshiki felt oddly adventurous, he decided to trust his instinct and try something new. He immediately began to toss off all his clothes, even his underwear. He jumped into the pool.

“Whoa?” Shouyou stood on the edge of the pool wide eyed at Goshiki.

“Come on,” Goshiki said as he quickly splashed some water towards Shouyou.

“Okay, okay,” Shouyou quickly tossed off his battle outfit, immediately grateful he went with a simple zip up top, and jumped right into the water.

Goshiki shielded his eyes as the splash from Shouyou threw a mass of water his way.

“This is the first time I’ve been in the water here,” Goshiki stated once Shouyou was in. “It’s so warm.”

“It’s so clear, and, wow, Goshiki, are you actually standing?” Shouyou stared down into the water right down Goshikis stomach, legs and his feet. His feet were clearly flat on the panels that formed the floor of the pool.

“Yeah, I was kind of hoping it would be deeper,” Goshiki looked too and was disappointed.  But when he looked Shouyou’s way he started chuckling. “Do you want me to help you?”

“What do you mean?” Shouyou said while struggling to stay upright.

“You’re on the tips of your toes and you seem unsteady,” Goshiki laughed. “You don’t have to stand.”

“I, I, I’m fine,” Shouyou quickly turned around as he slowly walked and eventually swam away, or tried to when he remembered his arm was still injured.

“Wait up,” Goshiki called as he laughed. He quickly swam towards him. As they neared the other end of the pool they stopped. This end was shallower, enough so that they could sit down in the pool comfortably. They both leaned backwards and lay flat looking upwards to the sky above. Some birds could be seen flying in a v-like formation. Puffy clouds moved about above the birds. And beyond that a plane could be seen moving slowly across the sky. It was a serene scene and one that helped to calm them.

“Don’t you wish we could stay like this forever?” Goshiki asked. “No worries, no problems, no distractions?”

“It’d be nice,” Shouyou said as he turned to face Goshiki.

“It would,” Goshiki said.

“But I would wish everyone else were here too.”

“Same.”

“What’s going on,” Shouyou asked. The water leveled seemed to be steadily rising, slowly encroaching on their torso’s which were just slightly out of the water. The water moved more roughly too, water crests higher than the edge of the pool. The middle of the pool began to bubble, almost like a rolling boil. The water temperature rose dramatically too, soon vapor started to emanate.

“Hot, hot, hot,” Shouyou shouted as he quickly dashed up and out of the pool.

“I wanted to enjoy it more,” Goshiki said as he trailed behind Shouyou.

“Not at that temperature,” Shouyou quickly shook his head spreading water all around him. Goshiki followed too and took a brief glance at Shouyou. His usual messy haired look was now just all hanging down and still dripping water. He liked this different look for him. His staring was swiftly interrupted however.

GWARRRRRR, SPLOOOSH!!! Immediately a roar intermixed with the sound of a torrent of water being immediately displaced from the pool then falling shook the skyscraper. The patio chairs and kiosks shook harshly as they struggled to remain upright.

“Watch out,” Shouyou cried as he lost his balance tumbling into Goshiki. Goshiki had no time to brace for impact as he fell to the ground cushioning Shouyou. Shouyou landed but then slid somewhat to the ground.

“OUCH!!!” Shouyou screamed as he quickly tumbled over. He rubbed his wrist as he fought back tears from his eye.

“Sorry,” Goshiki said as he apologized.

“It’s not your, that smarts,” Shouyou said as he still lay rubbing his arm.

“We don’t have time to wait, hurry,” Goshiki said as he tugged Shouyou moving him out of the way from a directed powerful squirt of water aimed at them. The water hit with such force it dug into the linoleum panel they moved from.

“We can’t fight like this,” Shouyou mentioned as he held an arm out indicating that they had no protection on. Their quick dip in the pool left them naked and defenseless.

“Our clothes are on the other side, we can’t get there unless we attack,” Goshiki mentioned, he turned around examining the scene. The lemonade and ice cream kiosks were close by but unhelpful. However, a third kiosk which he had not seen stood several meters from them. “That should do,” he said as he reached for Shouyou’s hand and pulled him towards.

“So fast,” Shouyou said as he let himself be led.

“Jump.” Goshiki mentioned quickly. Shouyou jumped immediately. Below them several squirts of water hit the ground sending much debris upwards.

“Left,” Goshiki commanded next. Shouyou moved as indicated. Another squirt of water was dodged excellently by Goshiki.

“Dive down!” Goshiki shouted as he tugged Shouyou down with them. They dove stomach first onto the ground, somewhat sliding forward as water came above their heads.

“Come on, up, just a bit more.”

“R, right,” Shouyou said with a touch of uncertainty. Nonetheless he followed Goshiki obediently.

The ground shook again but they maintained their balance. Before them stood a lime green miniature storefront kiosk. Hangers on it chimed as they banged into one another, some of the swimwear falling to the ground below. Sunglasses and UV protection products tumbled off the lower shelves and rolled on the ground.

“Just pick something, we’ll have to wear this, it’s better than nothing,” Goshiki picked up a pair of orange and black thigh length swim trunks and put them on. Shouyou picked up a lightweight white short-sleeve zip-up jacket and a pair of orange knee length swim shorts.

“Nothing on body?” Shouyou asked as he examined Goshiki.

“No, I won’t get hit anyway. This is easy,” Goshiki said proudly. He pointed towards the Turt-class as it caused more of the water to bubble. Only its shell was visible above the surface of the pool water.

“So cool,” Shouyou said as his eyes sparkled at Goshiki.

Goshiki laughed. “Anyway, we’re bound to get wet anyway.”

“Yeah,” Shouyou threw off the jacket he just put on. “I wasn’t thinking.” Before the jacket could hit the ground, it was torn to shreds as it got caught in a blast of water. Immediately the kiosk they stood beside was hit with the water too. A huge gaping hole appeared in the center of it. Plastic and metal pieces flew off in all directions as Shouyou and Goshiki dove in different directions avoiding the debris.

“It’s, it’s time to strike back,” Goshiki shouted as he pointed forward. “Take the left, I’ll take the right. You got this?” Goshiki looked towards Shouyou. He saw Shouyou instantly materialize one of his Scorpion blades. The vibrant glow of the blade blinded Goshiki even on the roof of this high skyscraper.

They ran forward on both edges of the pool. Goshiki narrowly avoided slipping on a puddle of water as he readied his Asteroid. The palm sized orbs shot out several coin sized cubes. These made a brilliant arc of white light as they curved and landed squarely on the back of the Turt-class. Each hit sounded like a coin landing on a tin roof. The creature roared and shook as it felt the barrage of blasts. Goshiki continued to launch them out as he moved ever closer.

“Shouyou!” Goshiki yelled over the sound of the hits. The gleam of the blade reflected some of the sunlight towards Goshiki’s face. He shielded his eyes as he stopped running. He planted his feet firmly on the ground, slightly sliding a bit more than he liked, and materialized two more orbs. These orbs glowed a murky black. He launched them aiming right for the center of his current barrage. The orbs hit with a ferocious impact. The sound of something as hard as steel collapsing in on itself was one that was unforgettable and one that indicated to Goshiki that it worked. The black orbs absorbed the white light from the barrage distorting them and giving off a black and white mist. This mist enveloped the Turt-class in an eerie shroud. Immediately, from above, the glint of the blade Goshiki signaled for appeared. Holding it, Shouyou landed with incredible speed. The light from the blade appeared to extende for fifty meters above them and even fifty meters below. Pieces of the Turt-class shell mixed with water flew upwards into the air. The Turt-class appeared to lower as well. Soon a shrill sound began to increase in volume. After a few moments, the floor of the building lurched inward heavily. The next thing anyone knew it was caving in.

Shouyou jumped backwards as he let the blade stay within the center of the black shroud. He landed beside Goshiki but tumbled backward as his feet failed to find any grip on the slippery surface. Goshiki caught him keeping him from falling.

“Look, it’s actually happening,” Goshiki pointed.

“I was that strong?”

“Yes, yes you are,” Goshiki added as he put a hand on Shouyou’s shoulder. They looked on as cracks danced across the base of the pool. The bubbling water seemed to subside as the disturbances to the water increased.

The Turt-class appeared to be in great pain as it thrashed about in the pool. Each time it moved, the cracks continued to move across the bottom. It appeared to be clueless as to the trap Goshiki and Shouyou had set.

“One more hit,” Goshiki mentioned. “Ready, when you are.”

“I’m, I’m ready,” Shouyou materialized another blade as he looked on and saw the one planted in the Turt-class’s shell finally fade.

“Let’s go,” Goshiki followed behind Shouyou as he ran forward. The Turt-class seemed to not want to go down without a fight. It launched several blasts of water at them. It was as if someone had turned on a fire hydrant. As they dodged to the left and right, the water blasted several holes into the ground. Goshiki turned back and looked into one and noticed he could see a queen size bed. The duvet cover was soaked through while some parts of the bed had springs flying all over the place.

“Did they power this thing up?” Shouyou yelled as he quickly jumped to the side, narrowly dodging the lemonade stand.  Goshiki was unlucky, hitting it harshly, knocking the umbrella and several unused cups onto the ground.

“Yeah,” Goshiki said as he allowed himself to be tugged upwards by Shouyou. As Goshiki’s foot left the kiosk, the kiosk was soon blasted several feet across the roof, and into the glass barrier. Water continued to be forced at it causing it to break through the glass building and off the side of the building into the streets below.

They both gulped as they looked on. A lone lemonade cup rattled on the ground.

“This could be harder than I thought,” Goshiki said to himself. “We can still do it.”

“Are you sure?” Shouyou questioned.  There was no time for Goshiki to come up with an answer. Another large splurge of water flew their way. Shouyou tugged Goshiki to the side.

“Good god,” Goshiki yelled as he tumbled onto the tiled flooring. He rolled for several meters stopping and gripping his foot.

“Sorry Goshiki, I didn’t mean to distract you,” Shouyou turned towards Goshiki who still gripped his foot. He seemed to be incapable of moving which left Shouyou standing on guard while also trying to keep watch over him.

Goshiki didn’t respond. He could only think of the excruciating pain that continued to plague him. He looked down and screamed as their appeared to be a trail of blood from the kiosk to their current location.

“We’ve got to move, we’re out in the open here,” Shouyou quickly reached for Goshiki’s arm hoisting him up somewhat. Goshiki’s weight suddenly shifted onto his hurt foot causing him to yell in pain. Shouyou quickly lost his grip on him causing him to slide back to the ground.

“This, this isn’t going to work,” Goshiki said through clenched teeth. “There has to be, some place…”

“I’m, I’m looking,” Shouyou quickly looked around. The creature was on the left while on the right was what he was looking for.

Goshiki couldn’t respond, the pain was preventing him from fully responding. He only nodded at Shouyou’s statement. Before he knew it Shouyou was lifting him by the waist. Goshiki hobbled along on his one good leg as Shouyou slowly took him over to an area underneath an awning. The sound of shattered glass was heard next. Immediately the tile floor turned into carpeting.

“Okay, we should be safe here,” Shouyou sat Goshiki down, leaning him up against a small kitchen island. “Be right back.”

Goshiki noticed they were in what seemed like a small indoor patio area. The red carpet was a nice touch to the mahogany wood colored cabinets that made up most of the kitchen. Above were marbled countertops with a few kitchen utensils and tools out. A cutting board with a long knife that seemed abandoned in a hurry was closest to Goshiki. Beside it, there was a measuring cup along with a mixing bowl that may have been used to make some dough.

“This is good,” Shouyou said as he rounded the corner. Water dripping from his head pattered on the floor around Goshiki. Shouyou kneeled and examined Kei’s foot. “Oh my God, Goshiki!”

“What?” Goshiki said after groaning.

“Your foot, we need to do something,” Shouyou stood up quickly and started rummaging through the drawers.

“What are you looking for?” Goshiki stared as Shouyou continued to pull out drawers. He soon vanished around the corner. Goshiki could only see his orange hair poking up in his periphery as he heard more drawers.

“A towel, we’ve got to get that cleaned up and stop the bleeding.”

“It’s still bleeding?”

“Can’t you see the pool of red forming at your leg?”

“I’m trying not to.”

“Found some,” Shouyou rushed over holding several cotton towels with yellow rubber ducks on them.

“Cute,” Goshiki commented as he struggled to chuckle.

“I thought this would be easy,” Goshiki watched as Shouyou kneeled and lifted his leg. He then moved the towel wiping up the water and blood that cover part of Goshiki’s leg and foot. “That stings,” Goshiki twitched a bit leg moving dangerously close to Shouyou’s face.

“Sorry, there’s this large gash on your leg, could it always do that?”

“I don’t remember it, though I don’t remember when it was the four of us that we ever even got touched by it, ha,” Goshiki looked at Shouyou.

Water sprayed down from above them as the creature seemed to be randomly squirting all over the place. Because the distance was so far, there seemed to be no threat of them being in the line of fire and receiving a full force blast.

“I just cleaned that,” Shouyou exclaimed as he took the towel to dry an area he already did.

“It’s getting restless, if the glass would crack faster.”

“Didn’t this take us only five minutes at most.” Shouyou threw the bloodied towel to the side as he took another one. He motioned to Goshiki to rip it to pieces. He then wrapped a few of these pieces around the wound on Goshiki’s foot, snuggly tightening this makeshift bandage to prevent anymore bleeding.

“The difference the setting can make.”

“Or more people.”

“True, though we’re doing pretty good so far. I have an idea, though I need your help moving.”

“Don’t you need to rest more?”

“I could but I’m ready to go, starting to get hungry,” Goshiki laughed softly.

“It’s been that long?” Shouyou asked as he leaned back against the same cabinet as Goshiki.

“I think so.”

“Just let me catch my breath.” Shouyou leaned over resting his head on Goshiki’s shoulder. Goshiki shivered from damp wet hair now touching his shoulder.

“I’m your pillow now?” Goshiki said voice rising an octave higher. He started to scoot over a bit to make more space, but Shouyou stretched out his hand touching Goshiki’s chest.

“Just stay like that, please,” Shouyou said softly as he relaxed his outstretched hand.

Goshiki remained silent as Shouyou calmly lay on him. He felt Shouyou’s frenzied breathing calm down after a few minutes. Soon only the sound of the roaring in the distance and the occasional splashing of water could be heard behind them.

Shouyou’s head moved forward causing Goshiki to turn his head slightly. It seemed Shouyou had drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Monday and a very long update. Almost up to all of my prewritten content, so I will be writing fresh content again, hopefully updates twice a month in 2018.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Through a training simulation, Goshiki and Shouyou's bond strengthens. Meanwhile both continue to battle with feelings of grief and remorse while trying to understand their role for their friends and for their team at large.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year. I still love Goshiki Hinata Tsukishima. 
> 
> Still quite a ton planned for this fic in 2018. 
> 
> ~~~~~~A resolution to write the 250K word rarepair fic of your dreams~~~~~~

“Heh,” Goshiki said as he moved his hand towards Shouyou’s arm. He remained unresponsive, he was still sleeping. Goshiki sighed defeated and turned to look at his own wrist. He spoke to himself. “Now we’re both injured.”

Though Goshiki wanted to relax and continue to sleep there, he couldn’t resist his trained battle instincts. He quickly performed a self-check up. Looking forward he noticed his foot. A towel draped over it was stained red, however it didn’t appear to be so moist that blood was trailing down his foot or pooling on the floor beside him. He wiggled his toes to see if he could feel any type of injury. He winced slightly as he felt a slight tingling but otherwise nothing as strong as the pain he felt earlier.

“Of course, I’d mess up and get myself injured in a silly simulation battle,” Goshiki chuckled dryly. His head moved back hitting the knob of the cabinet he was propped up against. “Ouch, that’s what I get. There’s a first for everything.” He tried to think back to when he last got injured in combat and he couldn’t come up with anything. Had they always been impervious to danger? He looked to Shouyou and wondered how he had the know how to even treat the injury. He looked to his injury again and noticed how tidy and neat it was. It didn’t look like the job of a panicked noob who had only seen the safety pamphlets passed out at training for how to treat injuries. No, this looked like a practiced and experienced professionals job.

Goshiki put those thoughts aside as he turned and stared out the window. How much time had passed he wondered.  The sun appeared to be shining as bright as it was when he got there. He chuckled to himself as he thought of Kei smartly adding that the sky was synthetic, something created by the software to make this training feel real and authentic. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to tell how much time had passed, the sky remained the same no matter how long they were training.

As he sighed, he realized they didn’t have their battle visors on. They were laying atop their clothes by the pool side. Their battle visors were probably lost in the waters below the Turt-class. “We did well considering,” he said to himself. If they had the visor then information on the time, the setting, the enemies, and even health and safety information would be available to them. It even had a feature on the enemy patterns incorporating useful predictive software that enabled the wearer to fully anticipate where and how powerful an enemies attack would be. This, no doubt, would have prevented him from being injured. Of course, he, said to himself, he was too good to use that software.

“Shouyou,” Goshiki stated as he started to gently shake the now slouching over Shouyou. “Get up, your neck is going to hurt if you stay like that.”

“Huh,” Shouyou moved his head facing Goshiki, drool gently dropping by the second to the ground below.

“Wipe your face,” Goshiki moved away some to avoid it.

“Why’s that?” Shouyou drowsily reached for the nearest cloth.

“Not that, Shouyou!” Goshiki shrieked as Shouyou leaned over and wiped his mouth on the borrowed swim shorts Goshiki wore.

“Cool towel,” Shouyou commented after he finished wiping.

“That, that wasn’t a towel!” Goshiki cringed as he looked at the wet spot on his shorts. “Any, anyway, we need to finish this.”

“Right,” Shouyou rubbed his eyes and began to stand, though not before kneeling forward and examining Goshiki’s foot. “Looks good.”

“Lend me your shoulder,” Goshiki added.  

“Alright, is this good?” Shouyou allowed himself to be used as a support for Goshiki. Goshiki balanced himself on one foot as Shouyou rose. He then put some weight onto his injured foot. He still felt a tingling and increasing pain but he endured.

“Now, let’s just get over there. I thought of a great idea.”

“Ready to move when you are,” Shouyou’s arm was wrapped around Goshiki’s waist.

“Yeah, but slowly.”

Sensing the two boys emerge from behind the kitchen island, the Turt-class focused its water attacks. However, they were still far away that any water that came was lacking any force.

“Right there,” Goshiki mentioned as they neared the doorpost.

“But you can’t even see it.”

“It’s fine. Set me down,” Shouyou guided Goshiki down until his back was leaning against the door post. “All you need to do is signal me when you’re close, then I can aim one of these to you.” Goshiki motioned towards his Asteroid. “It just needs to hit close enough to exert enough force to break through the bottom of the pool.”

“So, I get to be a decoy?” Shouyou looked confused.

“No, because you’ll still attack, if my foot wasn’t like this then I could be out there with you, but I’d just slow you down. Can you do it?” Goshiki looked him in the eye.

“Y-yes, of course I can.”

“Good, just do like you did earlier and this plan will work. We can do it.”

“Right.”

“Then go!” Goshiki yelled, instantly bringing back out his trusty orbs. They were smaller than usual indicating his lack of focus. The throbbing in his foot made him struggle to materialize it to full size. But he pressed on.

Shouyou ran forward, but his gait faltered. He hesitated and looked back concerned. Goshiki nodded while smiling softly pumping some additional energy into his orb to make it full size. Shouyou seemed convinced, smiled, and ran forward. When he reached the end of the awning he turned out of sight. Immediately several squirts of water were fired off landing several meters from the place where Shouyou turned.

Goshiki patiently waited. The sounds of water hitting a few of the pool chairs and remaining kiosks kept him literally on the edge. He hated not being able to see anything, not being able to be behind Shouyou and lead him to safety, and worst of all, not being there to even direct the plan he created. Not being there to guarantee the plan’s success was stressful. Every time he saw water raining down in the vicinity he thought of the worst. If something happened to Shouyou without him knowing, he didn’t even know what he’d do. Times like these were when it was difficult to remember that this is only a simulation. Taking it very seriously was hard when someone could literally feel everything in this world. A powerful hit to Shouyou, one that could even be considered fatal would still hurt painfully even if temporary. Some had been ejected from the world from the immense pain.  
  
The sound of a blade hitting a metallic shell forced him to pour more energy into his orbs. The time for him to play his role was nearing. All he had to do was wait for the signal.

Goshiki’s focused on his hearing, he counted 12 pings on the metal. It was the signal from Shouyou. Goshiki charged up his orbs as much as he could. However, the weariness and tiredness of the day seem to catch up with him. He struggled to stay awake, to stay focused. Breathing was suddenly painful. He strained to channel the energy into the orb. As he was about to fall over and faint he suddenly heard Shouyou’s scream. No, not good enough he thought, as he remembered what he had to do. He needed to protect him. He was his captain. The success of this mission was up to him. He had to hang in there. He put more energy into it. The orbs alternated from being the size of a coin to being as a large as a watermelon. However, even this renewed pushed became painful for him. He was sweating bullets as he tried to keep them consistent. However, the throbbing in his foot was starting to grow worse. Feelings of a cool liquid near his foot started to become noticeable. A white glow from the area of battle appeared and grew in intensity. Goshiki put in the last bit of energy that he could muster and fire off blasts from his Asteroid. He collapsed on his knees as he followed the objects trajectory.

Two light green square shaped objects traveled with high speed up and away from his hands. They rounded the door post he leaned up against and moved forward. Once reaching the same corner Shouyou turned, they turned a full 90 degrees in that direction. From there it was up to fate.  Goshiki only hoped that they would find their target.

Moments later, Goshiki heard Shouyou holler, and soon, a huge torrent of water could be seen blowing past the corner Shouyou ran behind. Next was the sound of cracking glass.  Then what seemed to be an entire shift in the building, Goshiki slipped and fell onto his side as the entire floor of the building tilted. Some chairs and kiosks slid past. Water came pouring past too, and riding it was Shouyou.

“Direct hit!” Shouyou screamed as he scrambled across the tilted wet floor. Unable to find any grip he simply angled himself to hit a heavy kiosk that seemed unable to slide far. He made his way through more debris and water to Goshiki’s side.

“Did it,” Goshiki struggled to speak as he bent over to grip his foot. “Hit?”

“Yeah, yeah it did,” Shouyou exclaimed happily.

“Good very good,” the next thing Goshiki knew he heard a loud roar and then a huge grating sound. It was as if the building were crying. Soon it felt like steel beams, concrete, glass had all collided into each other.

“It happened Goshiki, it happened,” Shouyou shouted as he held Goshiki up. “It worked.”

Goshiki closed his eyes as he tumbled over unconscious due to the pain.

\--

“We made a great team,” Shouyou stated as he licked his strawberry vanilla ice cream cone.

“Yeah, weren’t we amazing?” Goshiki bit the last chunk of his cone.

They sat on the grass in a secluded area of the marketplace garden outside of Shiratorizawa’s walls. A small bird walked across the wall in front of them which caught their attention. As it danced and sung in the setting sunlight, they enjoyed each other’s company and their ice cream.

“Your plan came just in time, if we hadn’t waited any longer, we might have actually got our first loss,” Shouyou continued to look at the bird. It seemed to be having a good time, flapping its wings as if it was nobody’s business.

“I, I, I timed it that way,” Goshiki chuckled softly as he turned away face a little bit red.  “If only I didn’t black out at the end.”

“I should have told you to rest more.”

“Then we would have been out there even later. Who knew that four hours had already passed by that point.”

“If you hadn’t gone into the pool, we would have been done so fast.”

“But it looked too good to pass up,” Goshiki felt uncomfortable about the dip into the pool, but he did feel temporarily liberated from the chains that had bound him beforehand. The chance to let loose and go was something he was glad to try.  It was a painful, yet worthwhile sacrifice.

“I don’t regret it,” Shouyou sighed. “I wish we could go back. There’s no pools around here!”

Goshiki looked at him quizzically. “There is one, didn’t they go over it in gym class?”

“No? We never went to the pool.”

“That’s odd, they did it when I first got here.”

“Though a school pool will be nothing like the one on that building. It was so high up! Do you really think there were places like that?”

“There should be since some of that stuff is based on real life.”

“We should try to find one here.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, they are probably destroyed.”

The moment Goshiki finished speaking Shouyou’s smile faded. The truth of the matter was that if there were any pools on skyscrapers they probably wouldn’t be safe in this day of constant danger. A skyscraper would be a magnet for attacks from otherworldly creatures. Portals opened any and everywhere. Some pictures passed around showed portals opening in the middle of buildings, causing them to fall over as this gaping hole caused huge issues with the buildings structure. If a building didn’t fall from the hole then it may have fell from the rampaging Tyranno-class creatures, which tails could destroy and knock over houses and other buildings. Some rampaged through the buildings threatening building integrity. The idea that a skyscraper would still be standing was almost laughable.

“Who, who knows, maybe there could be one or two still standing,” Goshiki quickly added and smiled as he faced Shouyou.

“Yes,” Shouyou perked up lightly though still seemed saddened by the news.

“With search missions ongoing maybe they will expand to the urban areas and safe zones can be made. We can visit them then and see if there are pools.”

“Or we can go back?”

“Haha, maybe whenever they let us select locations instead of making it random. It’s a terrible limitation.”

“Whoever heard of a fighting game that doesn’t let you select the stage that you could fight on.”

“The people who made this system.”

“You played games?” Shouyou looked at Goshiki shocked.

“Yes?” Goshiki said slowly. “Is that bad?”

“No, no, no,” Shouyou said as he waved his now empty hands, cone long devoured. “It’s just, you didn’t seem the type. You know?”

“No?”

“How should I say it?’ Shouyou hummed as he thought long and hard. “You always seemed like the sporty type.”

“I played sports, but I also played some games when I had time. They were a good distraction.”

“Oh, were they?” Shouyou looked excited. “You should have said something. I have some packed under my bed…but only if you have time. I know you’re busy.”

“I have some free time sometimes, or well, now I have lots of free time,” Goshiki played with a few blades of grass absentmindedly.

“Maybe they will give us an end date for our suspension,” Shouyou said as he lay and turned over to face Goshiki. The shadow made it appear as if they wore a sorrowful and regretful face. The tone they spoke in was somber.

“Who knows?”

“Maybe they will tell you tomorrow, you’re still meeting with our seniors tomorrow aren’t you?”

“Eh,” Goshiki tore some grass out the ground and tossed it into the air. It flew away on a breeze out of sight. He then rubbed his hands through his hair in frustration.

“I guess not?”

Goshiki chuckled and sighed. If only it could be as simple as Shouyou suggested. “I just think tomorrow will go terribly.”

“Why? When I was at Karasuno, whenever something bad happened, we just had a talking to from our seniors, who could be scary,” Shouyou cringed.

Goshiki was steadily growing curious about Shouyou and Kei’s time at Karasuno. They never directly detailed anything that went on there. It was only a hint here or a hint there but nothing deeper. It was like they were dancing around some issue that they didn’t want to acknowledge. However now wasn;t the time to pry. “It’s different here, I heard it’s just a bunch of people hidden behind a black screen in a dark room. You sit in a chair in the middle while they bombard you with questions. It’s supposedly really brutal.”

“Can you get out of it?”

“I would if I could, but…yeah.”

“Just skip, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Goshiki and Shouyou laughed. “Impossible,” Goshiki stated as he calmed down. They both knew he wouldn’t miss a meeting with the most important people in Shiratorizawa. It wouldn’t just be their seniors or his idol Ushijima, but actual suits with MBA’s. For Shouyou to make such a suggestion was honestly laughable.

“Yeah that’d be a bad idea, but, I got you to laugh so that’s something.” Shouyou smiled brightly.

“I, um,” there was an awkward silence as Goshiki struggled to find the words to say.

“Thanks though, I really needed this,” Shouyou interrupted his gibberish. “If I’d stayed in the room, I probably would still be gripping that bear and blaming myself. But you, well…ah thanks is all I’ll say for now.” Shouyou almost stood to rise but Goshiki interrupted him.

“Let’s just stay here for a little longer,” Goshiki said as he pulled him down. “I mean we don’t need to go back to the room so soon.”

“Or do you want to play some games?” Shouyou winked at Goshiki.

“I don’t feel like moving from here.”

“Fine, but game date next time,” Shouyou said as he rolled over and into Goshiki.

“Okay, okay,” Goshiki said as he ruffled Shouyou’s hair.

Shouyou only giggled in response.

\--

“6 AM?” Goshiki groaned as his arm vibrated. “This is too early.”

He cracked open his eyes. A mass of bright orange hair was all he saw.

“Huh?” Realization soon came to him as he carefully slid himself over from the other body in the bed. Thoughts of Shouyou coming into his bed didn’t come to him. It seemed he slept through whatever situation led Shouyou to his bed. In any case, he had no time to think over the situation.

“Sorry, excuse me,” Goshiki whispered as he slowly untangled his legs from Shouyou’s, careful to not wake him. Though waking him would probably not happen even if he moved him over harshly.

As he put his leg onto the floor, his other one got caught in the covers sending him tumbling down. His arm bumped into a wastebasket as most of his body landed on the floor, sending vibrations all over the room. He quickly stilled the waste basket hoping to keep it from clattering loudly to the ground. He quickly cursed loudly as he gripped his foot. Memories of his previous foot injury flashed to mind causing him to quickly grab his things mindlessly and dash to the bathroom.

Once in the bathroom he looked down at his foot and laughed. “Of course, it wouldn’t be bleeding, it was just a simulation.”

Goshiki turned the water up to the highest setting, wet a washcloth underneath it, and then put it on his face. He softly yelled into it, verbalizing all his frustrations. His voice echoed in the empty bathroom further causing him to yell even more. Now that he was awake he felt ready to take on the world.

Or so he thought.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goshiki is called into the administrations offices to provide an explanation for his actions during his teams mission. 
> 
> Afterwards Goshiki does a little soul searching with the help of his roommate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that brings up to the end of all that I had previously written, now to continue to add to this hopefully at a chapter or two a month until the end (~!100K)
> 
> Thanks for reading, its been an up and down writing this but I love it. Team rarepair action slow build romance fic 2018.

Goshiki paced back and forth in front of the thick black metal door before him. The peering eyes of onlookers whom he could feel boring holes into him or looking at him out the side of their eyes did little to calm him. Behind the doors he stood were the ones who would decide the fate of Shiratorizawa-3, no, rather his fate. Would he be allowed to continue on as the captain of the team, would he be downgraded to a pencil pusher or a strategic advisor, or worst, would he be kicked out of the Shiratorizawa defenses?

The door opened upwards. The creaking echoed throughout the hallway which caused a few people to stop and stare. Low level fog seemed to come out from the door and spread throughout the area. Goshiki shivered as he took a step forward. One by one he moved slowly as if hoping for some divine intervention to cause the door to close. When none came he grit his teeth and took that one last step into the room. The doors dropped shut behind him leaving him in a pitch black dark room.  Soon a thin light from above shone down, focused right on him.  He jumped back scared as soon as a gavel hitting the sounding block echoed throughout the room. Eight additional lights appeared, illuminating several desks sitting on platforms several meters above where Goshiki stood. Metal slabs prevented Goshiki from seeing the faces of those sitting behind them.

“Several days ago,” the electronic female voice that Goshiki was used to, sounded from one of the platforms above. “Shiratorizawa-3, under the direction of Captain Goshiki Tsutomu, participated in a surveillance expansion mission.  The mission found success over 24 hours later. One casualty, and four injuries were reported. As you know, protocol requires an investigational review be conducted when a mission results in loss of life.”

“Y, y, yes, I know,” Goshiki nervously looked upwards eyes darting from each of the metal slabs. It was hard to figure out who was speaking.

“Today we will ask you several questions. Your answers will be used in our recommendations for further administrative action for your team,” she continued.

“We ask that you remain truthful,” a male’s voice spoke next. It sounded as if he spoke through voice distortion software, causing him to sound several octaves lower than what most people sound like.

“I will,” Goshiki responded.

“Good,” the first female spoke.

“It is our understanding that the mission explicitly stated that you were not to engage certain enemies on this mission, is that accurate?”

“Yes, it is,” Goshiki gulped.

“Then why did your team engage this foe in a prolonged encounter?”

“Because we were,” Goshiki spoke but was immediately cut off.

“You were aware that you did not have permission to engage?” the female voice immediately stated.

“Yes we were aware, however,”

“Then if you were aware, why did you not abort the mission?” she asked swiftly.

“The mission was not aborted because we had injured members that made returning to the extraction point challenging,” Goshiki looked downwards at his shoes. He curled his toes nervously.

“If members were injured,” a male senior’s voice filled with wisdom spoke slowly yet powerfully, “how did you reach the decision to continue the mission. Injured members cause the odds of success to lower greatly.”

“Yes, members were injured, however, I was not, so I believed I still had the ability to pick up any of the slack that resulted from the member’s inadequacies.”

“And you decided to do this even knowing the injured members not only threatened the success of the mission but also put their own safety at risk?” he spoke again.

“Yes, because at the time the decision was made,” Goshiki spoke but stopped as soon as the other woman spoke again.

“But members were injured,”

“Let the boy speak,” the man spoke cutting her off.

“It just made more sense to stay together and complete the mission than to flee and give up. The mission was honestly rated too low. We were just not prepared.”

Several murmurs were heard among the people behind the metal slabs. A gavel hitting a sounding block was heard causing many voices to quiet down.

“You were adequately prepared for the mission. You understood that the mission was not a combat mission. The mission parameters explicitly stated to not engage any dangerous foes,” the woman spoke angrily.

“Yeah, well, those mission parameters don’t really apply when you’re trapped in a building with nowhere to run,” Goshiki lashed back angrily causing more murmurs to erupt.

“Know your place son,” a man who hadn’t spoke before chimed in.

“Excuse me?” the woman responded in shock.

“I can’t think of anyone who would have aborted the mission after coming so far,” Goshiki responded.

“So what do you value more, the mission or your teammates?” A younger female with a very authoritative voice soon spoke.

“The mission is important. If the mission finds success, then many people can be helped.”

“Is that how your teammates would answer?” She asked him after taking a moment to think.

“I am unable to answer that question,” Goshiki spoke however as soon as he finished the thought of a beaten and battered Koganegawa valiantly defending Koji came into view.

“Do you understand why your team is composed of recruits from other defense academies?” the wise old man spoke.

“No, I was not informed about that.” Goshiki stood still as he heard several people move their mics away from their face and seemingly discuss something. It sounded heated as several fists slammed the tables causing some of the metal slabs to rock.

“Thank you, Captain Goshiki Tsutomu. We have reached a consensus,” the female who sounded like a replica of the voice that came from their battle visors spoke. “Your team has already paid the greatest sacrifice in losing a valuable member of our agency, Koji Izumi. Rather than punish you further than the grief you are, no doubt, facing, we have decided to only give your team a month long suspension. During this period, Shouyou Hinata will take over as Captain of your team. Additionally, after the month long period, you will return as Captain however, he will be your Vice Captain. Any decisions will have to be decided by the two of you in agreement. These decisions will be recorded on your devices. The three academies have invested heavily in your team and we are only looking forward to your continued success.”

“Shouyou?” Goshiki stated softly. He seemed to be ignored.

“There are some things in life that are more valuable than a mission. Remember that,” the wise man spoke as his light turned off. Several others turned off in quick success.

The one argumentative lady spoke, “Not all of us are in agreement with your competency at being a captain. Make one more wrong move and you may not only find yourself permanently demoted but also kicked out.” The light over her desk clicked off leaving only Goshiki alone in the center of the room.

Goshiki shielded his eyes as he walked through the opened metal door. The light seemed many times brighter than he remembered. It was painful. His eyes started to water as he seemed to concentrate harder on walking. His head began to ache as he continued. Things became a blur as he continued to walk. Hallway liveries became indistinguishable from moving people. Did he bump into a bench? Did he knock someone carrying a briefcase over? Or did he walk into an indoor leafy plant?  Somehow when his view quickly became black all he could think about was if he walked into an elevator door or if he fell onto the floor.

\--

“Goshiki? Goshiki!”  Goshiki felt someone hitting his cheeks lightly. He groaned as he continued to hear his name being called. “Earth to Goshiki?”

“I hear you, I hear you,” Goshiki opened his eyes, focusing on blond hair and black glasses in front of him. “Kei? What are you doing here?”

“I should ask the same of you,” Kei responded as he looked down towards Goshiki.

“Why am I in your lap!?” Goshiki asked alarmed.

“There, there was no pillow around,” Kei said.

Goshiki sat up quickly but was stopped midway by Kei’s arm.

“Slowly, take a breath,” Kei insisted then sighed. “Shouyou is better at this sort of thing.”

“I don’t need to do any of that,” Goshiki moved beyond Kei’s arm.

“Suit yourself,” Kei moved his arm and stood.  “Anyway I was just passing through, when I saw you stumbling over like an idiot. I watched for a few minutes wondering what type of show you were putting on but it got old after you fell over the fifth plant.”

Goshiki stared at Kei dumbfounded. He looked back from where he came and noticed some of the debris of his journey. Some custodians were replacing soil in some of the plants that were uprooted in their fall.

“Can I go now,” Goshiki jumped up quickly flustered and embarrassed.

“You can, I still have things to do,” Kei tapped a manila folder sitting on the bench beside him.

“Here?”

“Yes, it’s kind of late and important.”

Goshiki was about to walk off when he turned around. “Is Koganegawa…” Goshiki stopped not knowing how to phrase the question.

“Can you finish that statement please?” Kei asked.

“Koganegawa can we talk to him now?”

“Yes,” Kei visibly saddened. “But I think you should avoid some touchy topics.”

“Thanks,” Goshiki turned back around to walk away but Kei ran up to him.

“Are you handling things alright?” Kei asked. Goshiki turned around to look him in the eye and saw his usual playful teasing expression replaced with a serious one. Kei looked just as concerned as he did when he was nursing Goshiki moments ago.

“What do you mean, I’m doing just fine. Shouyou and I even got into a practice match,” Goshiki stated confidently.

“Doing fine? Doing fine isn’t fainting on the floor in a hallway. Doing fine isn’t having your teammate having to take care of you on a bench in a crowded hallway.”

Goshiki wondered why Kei seemed to be offended. He was doing fine. Wait.

“I fainted?” Goshiki asked.

Kei chuckled dryly. “How else do you think you ended up in my lap?”

“I, I ugh.”

“Now really, are you doing fine? What could have got you so torn up inside that you lost it in the hallway?”

Goshiki didn’t know what to say. As the demoted captain he wondered if he even had the right or power to tell Kei about their changed leadership. The new captain, Shouyou, should be the one to make that announcement. However, lying to Kei or simply not telling him anything didn’t seem to be an option. He didn’t want to hurt Kei by hiding something, but he didn't want to step of Shouyou's toes.

Goshiki chuckled. “Well meeting with the review committee was harder than I thought it would be. You know how bad everyone says it is here.”

Kei stared blankly. He eventually moved closer to Goshiki. He leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Nice effort but try again. That diversion wont work on me.”

Goshiki’s smile faltered as he stepped backwards to move away from Kei. Kei’s prying eyes seemed to stick to him like glue making him uncomfortable.

“Don’t you have to get to your meeting or whatever?” Goshiki quickly added.

“I do, but you’re more important.”

“Thanks? But really, I don’t want to hold you up.”

“I’m only concerned for you,” Kei stated as he started typing into his wrist band.

“I know, Kei, I know. Goshiki responded as he walked backwards.

“Just watch where you’re going, I might not be there next time. And be sure to thank Shouyou.”

“Wait you told him?”

“How do you think I knew what to do?”

“Kei really, why!” Goshiki sighed dramatically as he quickly walked away. “We’ll talk sometime, bye.”

Not even five minutes after Goshiki left Kei, his wrist band started vibrating continuously. He put it on silence several times but after what seemed like the 100th, he finally read and answered the messages. One in particular he avoided reading until the last possible minute. Flagged Urgent and from Shouyou he knew exactly what it would say. He would probably be commanded to rest once he reached the room. He wasn’t looking forward to it.

\--

Goshiki was prepared for a verbal onslaught once he returned to the room. Instead he found it to be empty. Shouyou was nowhere to be seen. Peace and quiet at last, Goshiki stated loudly. He quickly jumped onto his bed, not even removing the covers or getting under them. Within a few mere moments he was already tethering on the edge of being awake and being in dreamland.

The door closing shut loudly jolted him awake. His eye opened as he saw Shouyou quickly throw off his bag and walk closer to Goshiki’s bed. There he stood and stared at him for a few moments. He pulled out a thermometer from one of his boxes and placed it in Goshiki’s mouth. Not noticing anything amiss with the reading on thermometer he put it back.

“I guess it was stress?” Shouyou stated worriedly.

“I’m not stressed,” Goshiki announced.

“You, you were awake?” Shouyou asked cautiously.

“Not really.”

“If you weren’t stressed then why did you faint in the hallway? And before you say it was because you didn’t eat anything or something, I won’t believe you. I don’t think you fainted because you didn’t eat anything, you already eat a ton for dinner.”

“I don’t eat that much,” Goshiki retorted. “Anyway, I don’t honestly know why I fainted. All I remember is getting the verdict from the council, walking out, and then somehow waking up in front of Kei.”

“I know, Kei called me as soon as he saw you down. With how panicked he was, I thought the worst had happened.” Shouyou moved to sit on the side of Goshiki’s bed. Goshiki stayed laying down as he listened.

“I don’t know, I just.” Goshiki turned over as he faced away from Shouyou. “It’s just really hard to believe and say, you know.”

Shouyou didn’t respond but seemed attentive to Goshiki.

“I wanted this so much, but now it seems so much harder than I thought it would be. So much more challenging than anyone made it seem. So much responsibility than I expected. And it’s just so much more than just being the best by yourself. I don’t know if I can continue on like this.” Goshiki curled himself up on the bed as he stayed turned to the window staring at the sky but not noticing any scenery.

“Goshiki,” Shouyou said as he turned to him. Goshiki hid his face with the pillow.

“Can you believe they said I have to be a vice captain for a while?” Goshiki stated and sighed.

“Wait, why?” Shouyou stared at the pillow in confusion.

“I don’t know,” Goshiki held onto the pillow. “I guess I have to learn something from our replacement captain?”

“And who is that going to be? I thought all of the Shiratorizawa seniors are on teams already? Wait, that Shirabu dude?”

“Shirabu?” Goshiki sat up quickly looking at Shouyou in complete shock and confusion. “Really, Shirabu, no!”

“Then I can’t think of a good replacement.”

Goshiki peered at Shouyou and smiled lightly. “Well he’s closer than you might think.”

“Koganegawa? No that wouldn’t make sense. He’s too active and doesn’t seem that smart.”

Goshiki’s jaw dropped.

“No, no, you got it wrong. Don’t tell him, but you know. We did have to help him out a bit with the basics when he first joined.”

“I know, I’m just kidding,” Goshiki laughed.

“Kei maybe? He seems like he’d be a good captain. He’s very smart and great with strategies, no offense Goshiki, but he’s better than you at that.” Shouyou teased but stiffened up once he realized what he said.

Goshiki answered quickly. “But it worked yesterday.”

“Yeah, yeah it did.” Shouyou added relaxing noticeably.

Goshiki sat and pondered about his other strategies and immediately seemed to zone out. Thoughts of the event that led to his current predicament quickly roared front and center. Though worst of all was the thought that even Shouyou doubted his leadership skills. Did the others feel the same way?

“Goshiki? Goshiki?” the pillow suddenly flew from his hands and landed elsewhere. The quick motions caused Goshiki to fall forward in the bed landing right into Shouyou’s chest and sending him down on top of him.

“What were you, what were you doing?” Goshiki quickly said in a panic.

“I was trying to get your attention,” Shouyou said as he tried to pry himself out from under Goshiki.

“I was paying attention.”

“No you weren’t, can you even remember the last thing I said?”

“You were talking about how well our strategy worked.”

“Goshiki?” Shouyou asked as he still lay under Goshiki. Goshiki seemed to be in no rush to move and just let his head lay on Shouyou rising chest. Shouyou moved his arm and started rubbing Goshiki’s back in a calming manner.

“Yes?” Goshiki answered as he relaxed and moved slightly so he could see Shouyou’s face.

“That is not what I was talking about.”

“But, I was close wasn’t I?”

“It doesn’t matter if you were close,” Shouyou laughed heartily. Goshiki laughed in response.

“Sorry I was just thinking of something.”

“Lemme guess,” Shouyou chuckled. “You won’t tell me, will you?”

“No, er, it’s just not important.”

“I see.”

They continued to lie for a few moments in silence, just listening to the sound of each other’s breathing. Though they weren’t deep in thought, they simply just enjoyed being able to have a bit of downtime with each other and a bit of time to relax.

“Hey,” Goshiki stated.

“Hm?”

“You figure out who the captain will be?” Goshiki asked playfully.

“If it’s not Kei, Koganegawa, and can’t be you, then I’ve ran out of ideas.”

“I’ll give you one more hint,” Goshiki added as he moved off of Shouyou and propped himself up on one arm elbow leaning into the bed as he looked down at Shouyou.

“Give me a hint.”

“The person is on our team.”

Shouyou took a moment to process what was said. He looked at Goshiki in deep thought, but then his face contorted into a weird face and then a face made when someone has just found the answer to a difficult math question that has been plaguing them for several hours.

“Get out, you can’t be serious?” Shouyou sat up and looked confused.

“Exactly,” Goshiki answered calmly.

“I don’t deserve this. You do,” Shouyou quickly added. “I’m good but I’m not that good, at least not yet!”

“Isn’t it kind of funny?” Goshiki played with a loose thread on the bedspread. “I mean picking someone with no experience for the role of captain? I could understand if it were someone else but you’re someone who only started here a few months ago.”

“What did they see in me, did they say anything?”

“I’m not seeing whatever it is they saw,” Goshiki said truthfully. The little time he spent thinking about it left him just as clueless as he was when they first announced who would be the new captain of Shiratorizawa-3. Clearly, there had to be something that qualified Shouyou for the position but whatever it was Goshiki couldn’t think of it.

“Did they,” Shouyou seemed to be deep in thought and spoke out loud, but Goshiki didn’t know if it were a question directed to him or not. “Did they ever tell you why you were made a captain?”

“No, I just thought it was because I was qualified and the seniors I trained under recommended me for it.”

“Then that’s not helpful. I mean, it would be, but I wasn’t here when you were in their teams,” Shouyou sighed in defeat. “Isn’t there anyone that could help?”

Goshiki was tempted to answer but he remained quiet. Though he could go to one of the seniors he wasn’t sure he was ready to announce to everyone that he had been demoted. It would be embarrassing to face the same people that suggested him for the role that he was not capable or fit for it. The humiliation would be too great to bear. He could already imagine Tendou teasing him for it. Seeing Semi looking down on him and worst having Ushijima know would feel as bad as showing his parents his first failing grade. It was not something he wanted to relive.

“Well whatever the reason, you’re going to be the captain for like a month. But any decision you make I’ll still have to approve it. Or I mean we both have to decide on things together. So I’m entrusting you with our team,” Goshiki said almost robotically.

“I’m not happy about this,” Shouyou said. He looked to his hands in sadness. “I can’t accept this. I mean, when I thought of becoming captain, I thought it’d be on a much happier occasion. You know having everyone around smiling and laughing and cheering me on. Actually, I didn’t think I would ever be captain. I mean, sure it’s a nice position but the coolest position is still the ace member of the squad. The guy you can count on to get the job done when things go downhill fast, the guy with the flashiest and coolest attacks, and just the guy that everyone always sees. You sometimes don’t ever see the captain deliver the finishing move. We never, or maybe hardly ever, saw you do that. You always left it to Koganegawa, Kei, or me to do.”

Goshiki smiled and nodded as Shouyou continued to ramble on. Eventually he tuned him out as he thought about what to do next. Since the order couldn’t really be disputed he could only accept it. It’d be easy to just use Shouyou as a puppet leader, Shouyou would probably be up to it, or easy to manipulate to do what he wanted. Koganegawa could easily be convinced, but Kei would be a problem.

“I mean, I could try my best,” Shouyou concluded his discussion.

“There’s no harm in trying,” Goshiki absentmindedly stated.

“Yeah there isn’t. You won’t be mad at me if things go wrong, will you?” Shouyou leaned close to Goshiki.

“Don’t be silly Shouyou, I don’t remember you getting mad at me if I made a mistake.”

“Now I can see why you may have been stressed out,” Shouyou fell backwards on the bed and whistled lightly.

“I wasn’t stressed out,” Goshiki continued to deny.

“Yeah well you still fainted,” Shouyou teased.

“Believe what you want.”

“Kei believes it too.”

“Stop.”

“No.”

“Please.”

“Okay, but…” Shouyou said as he trailed off.

“Not listening,” Goshiki quickly added.

“That’s not nice.”

“Okay how about I listen but I don’t respond. Will that be nicer?” Goshiki asked and laughed at the same time.

“If you’re going to do that, then you should just not listen. I don’t want to be talking to the air.”

“Fine.”

“But seriously,” Shouyou spoke after a few minutes of quiet. “What’s the first thing you even do as captain?”

“Well,” Goshiki spoke while still laying close to Shouyou, “you have to think about the practice schedule, strategies…though we’ll put that aside for now considering…and well more administrative stuff that we can go over later. I think that’s it. Probably just the first thing to take care of is obviously our schedule with the ranking events.”

“Oh we do have one of those soon, tomorrow isn’t it?” Shouyou asked.

Goshiki turned towards the wall over his desk and looked at the calendar. There circled in red on tomorrow’s date was the words Rank Wars. It looked like tomorrow would be the first time that the new Shiratorizawa-3, under Shouyou, would be put to the test.

Goshiki added, “tomorrow there is one…we could practice if you wanted, though I don’t know how beneficial it would be?”

“No we just practiced yesterday and I think some of us need more rest,” Shouyou poked Goshiki in the side who quickly twitched, the sensitive spot on his side fully trigged.

“Well I’m fine with that, I honestly don’t want to get up from here.”

“You’re so lazy now,” Shouyou giggled.

“It’s just, there’s nothing to do. My band hasn’t even vibrated for communications,” Goshiki held his arm in the air and looked at the band then lowered his arm back to the bed.

“Do you always have to do work? Can’t you just keep enjoying this free time? You can practice whenever you want, eat whenever you want, and even relax whenever you want,” Shouyou seemed concerned.

“I,” Goshiki was interrupted.

“After the mission you should realize that we shouldn’t take this stress-free time for granted. We were giving it 200% on the mission and I hated some of it. I like these times, where we can lay wherever we want outside or inside and not have to constantly worry and monitor for otherworldly creatures.”

“Okay that aspect I wouldn’t want to change. Though I think that’s why I like just laying here or there, you know. It’s like the only time we have to do this. I didn’t think overnight missions required that much attention.”

“See,” Shouyou added. “It’s just not good to work all the time like that. You have to live outside of work, have some fun, relax, enjoy, and do stuff like that.”

“I do.”

“Do you? You don’t seem like it. I’ve been living with you for months and this week has been the only time that I’ve seen you not rushing to check your email or running out to do things with the other captains in Shiratorizawa.”

“I can’t spend time with them?”

“No, no, you can,” Shouyou responded fast, sitting up in the process. “It’s just, ugh, never mind.” He lay back down forcefully, causing Goshiki to bounce up harshly. His hand hit himself in the face.

“Watch it,” Goshiki rubbed his cheek.

“Watch what?”

Seeing that Shouyou was completely confused, he just ignored his statement. “I don’t understand why you’re frustrated.”

“Because, you’re missing the point.”

“I understand your point. You think I should rest more and have more fun.”

“That’s not really what I mean.”

“Then tell me,” Goshiki sat up the same time Shouyou did and they both looked at each other. Goshiki looked utterly confused while Shouyou continued to seem discouraged from saying anything else.

“I’m going out for a bit,” Shouyou said getting up from the bed and leaving out the door. He left no time for Goshiki to say anything.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Shouyou has had an evening to think about the new position he's been given on Shiratorizawa-3, he realizes that perhaps it is a bit too much for him to stomach. He presents all his worries to Goshiki. Goshiki, not used to dealing with the personal emotion aspects of being a captain, has to trudge through this uncharted territory using only his instincts to guide him.

Goshiki woke up in the middle of the night finding Shouyou snuggled deep into his covers on his bed. Yawning, he turned his eyes to face the nighttime skies as he tried to fall asleep. There was something indescribably comforting about being so close to a friend that it made the night feel calmer than it was just a few hours ago. Thoughts of his new position as vice captain, ways to break the news to his subordinates, and around Shouyou’s sudden frustration made falling asleep more of a challenge than it usually was. Now, with Shouyou beside him, he could rest slightly easier knowing, at least, that Shouyou may have somewhat improved from how he appeared hours ago.

The closeness made Goshiki reflect on his life. Shouyou was the first person he’d ever been somewhat physically close with. He’d had roommates before, but they’d typically been classmates who he happened to live with and may have occasionally ate dinner together, or played a game or two with, but sharing the same bed, or sharing their feelings, even comforting or supporting one another? Never. His roommates seemed to have their own network of people to do that stuff with.

His experiences made him very self-conscious. He thought he was weird or that something was wrong with him. Why was he never able to grow close to anyone? Why did people leave him out of things? Why did his roommates, even when they were struggling with problems, go to other people and not him? Was it something he did wrong? Was he strange? Was there something unappealing about him? As he turned to look at Shouyou, he wondered, what had changed? What happened to suddenly make him appealing and attractive to him? Why did he open to him? And similarly, why did he open to Shouyou? Had he changed in these past few months of knowing him?

He was torn out of his thoughts when he heard the softest of cries beside him.

Goshiki poked him as he said his name softly.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you?” Shouyou spoke low as he wiped his eyes.

“I was up anyway,” Goshiki said unsure of if he should prod further or wait for Shouyou to speak. He quickly regretted not having much experience with dealing with the emotions of his teammates. Where had his sudden boldness and spontaneity from yesterday gone?

His anxiety quickly faded as sleep began to tug on him again. His eyes shut as his breathing nearly evened out. His mind returned to think of how nice it felt to be next to him.

“Goshiki,” Shouyou asked just at the moment that Goshiki felt himself slipping away. “How do you go to sleep every night with all this responsibility on your shoulders?”

As he lay there, fighting to stay awake, he considered responding, but he realized he didn’t have an answer. How did he still find it in himself to get to sleep knowing what just happened and under his watch? How did he find a way to peacefully sleep the night away knowing that the next time they go on a field mission, he might have to make another difficult decision that could risk their lives?

“I know I seemed happy when you said I’d be captain for a while, but after thinking it over all evening, I’m honestly afraid. I never wanted this position. I wanted to become the cool looking ace, not the captain. ‘Captain’, it’s.” Shouyou tugged on the sheets covering his face. His words came out muffled.

“It’s only temporary,” Goshiki said as he repeated Shouyou’s words. Being captain had come naturally to him, like he was trained and conditioned for the position since his birth. For Shouyou, someone with an upbringing he didn’t know, it was a struggle to find a way to comfort him. All he could do was say what was on his mind. Even if it was something simple or vague, he just hoped it would help him.

“Think of the captain as just a fancy title, like you know, you were the mightiest decoy, or Kei was the resolute shield. Just add captain on top of it and you should be fine.”

Shouyou was skeptical. “Just a title?” He asked as he turned over.

“Yes, just a title with the added responsibility of making sure the mission gets completed to the best of your ability. Just go out there and do your usual routine. You’re an excellent defender. You and Kei were the MVPs of Karasuno.” Goshiki paused as he turned away from him, voice lowering to a whisper and lacking any of his usual confidence. “Even I was a fan of you, your, uhm.” He paused as he realized just how embarrassing he probably sounded. “It was inspiring to see your defensive capabilities.”

“We, I wasn’t that good,” Shouyou said with his voice matching Goshiki’s in volume. “Everything you heard about us, it was a lie.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Goshiki raised his voice as he looked at him. “We heard of lots of your accomplishments. And your record, it’s all in these files they sent me.” Goshiki moved to manipulate the device around his wrist, but Shouyou gripped him, blocking his access to it.

“Trust me, it’s a lie. They did it so that they could get rid of us failures,” Shouyou said distastefully. It was as if he was describing the vilest thing he had ever encountered. “By making us look good on paper, they made it so that every other defense force would want us.”

“Impossible!” Goshiki declared in an outburst. “I can’t believe you’d call yourself a failure, and in front of me, after I failed, no…” Goshiki paused as he realized he was about to say something he’d regret. He was not going to believe this, he was not going to accept that he had failed. He was not going to believe that Shouyou had failed either. The system had failed them. It was the only explanation for anything bad that befell them. There were procedures and other things in place that prevented the failing of any crew on a mission. If there were injuries or death, then it was something wrong with the mission parameters. It wasn’t the fault of those who participated in it. It wasn’t his fault things went south. It was theirs. For Shouyou and Karasuno, it just had to be the same way.

“I’m sorry,” Goshiki said as he realized he was getting ahead of himself and that Shouyou was speaking from the heart. He had no right to make this about himself. He needed to make this about Shouyou, his teammate, and his friend. What he needed wasn’t denial or acceptance of his own belief in the shortcomings of his past. No, what he needed was his head held high and his eyes looking forward. As captain, and for the sake of their future success, he needed to make sure Shouyou was focused on what was important; their outcome and rank in the upcoming event.

Goshiki waited for a few moments before he spoke again. He was thankful Shouyou was temporarily taken aback by the outburst and gave him the time he needed to recompose himself. He was glad Shouyou hadn’t decided to leave the comfort of their shared bed cover and stay with him.

“Look,” Goshiki said as he managed to get his voice to return to his normal inside tone. “Tomorrow is just a regular mission. Just be yourself and do your best.”

“My best?! Don’t make me laugh Goshiki!” Shouyou sat up as he clenched his fists around the covers. He cried out desperately as he faced him. Goshiki stared blankly wondering how that of all phrases could trigger him. How could one of the happier members on his team have these well-hidden self-doubts? How did he miss them? He could only observe quietly as Shouyou’s outburst filled their room.

“I’ve been doing my best! My best keeps failing,” Shouyou said as his voice wavered. He struggled to speak calmly. “At Karasuno, our team, you know how only Koji died here? Well there, it was, it was so much worst.”

Goshiki sat up as he remained quiet. He wanted to retort and calm him down, but the desperate way Shouyou spoke shook him. There was something about the situation that told him that he should just be quiet and listen. He knew this was something he needed to do, and he wasn’t going to stop him. Goshiki let his gaze fall on the outside courtyard as he listened to Shouyou.

“It was terrible,” Shouyou said as he looked at his unclenched fists. “I watched, Goshiki. I had to watch it happen to someone I looked up to.” Shouyou’s voice fell to a whisper as he recounted this painful experience. “With my own eyes, I had to watch someone who seemed too nice, too kind, too encouraging, too dependable, die because of my own powerlessness. I was so dumb, so weak, so hard-headed, that I couldn’t see how I got us into such a hopeless situation. Even after he was hurt, I still thought I had it under control. I still thought that it was about me, and that I could do it on my own. It wasn’t until Kageyama’s yelling on the headset that.  It wasn’t until that voice, it wasn’t until-” Shouyou shook his head as he couldn’t finish.

He was a crying mess as he pulled his knees to his chest and rest his head on them as he cried into gap. His voice was muffled against his body and he wailed. Goshiki nervously crawled his hands across the bed to Shouyou. He wanted to do something to let him know that he was there and that he understood some of the pain he was going through, but a part of him felt like he didn’t truly understand. He moved his hand back to himself as he felt doubt come over him. He wondered if he even had the right to do that. He hadn’t experienced any of the feelings Shouyou described. What was it like to lose someone that was so close to you? What was it like to know that you may have been the one that put them in that situation? Was he able to understand all that Shouyou went through? Was he able to understand the burden that he carried then? Was he able to somehow understand the guilt and remorse Shouyou carried all these months? The previous mission was the only time he experienced loss on a team, and the responsibility of that loss fell upon the administration. It was their fault for putting them on that mission. Not his. He had no right to say he could understand Shouyou’s feelings. Goshiki sighed as he curled his fingers around his toes and listened to Shouyou continue.

“That look of happiness he had as he lay dying there, reaching his hand, ruffling my hair as he tried to tell me it’d be alright, that I’d made a fine defender for Karasuno, that I and Kei were everything he wanted us to be and more. How could he say that, knowing it was all because of me? I thought I was over this, but Koji, it brought it all back. With me as captain, the same thing will happen again. With me in charge, you, or Kei, or-” Shouyou’s voice trailed to an incomprehensive mumble.

“Shouyou turn around,” Goshiki said as he interrupted him and shook him lightly. “Now.” He demanded.

Shouyou listened and turned his body to face Goshiki’s. Swiftly he put one of his fingers on Shouyou’s mouth causing him to immediately stop talking. Goshiki focused on Shouyou’s sparkling eyes, an effect of his teary emotions, as he slowly moved closer to Shouyou’s face. His eyes stayed locked on him helping to ensure he remained focused. Though his eyes were entrancing, Goshiki pushed any thoughts of affection or attraction aside as he kept one finger on Shouyou’s lips as he leaned closer. Shouyou’s eyes never strayed as he maintained eye contact. When their foreheads touched, Goshiki removed his hand and only whispered. “You’re better than this, Shouyou, you’re amazing.”

“No, I’m not,” Shouyou averted his eyes. “I’m a living bad luck charm.”

“No, look at me Shouyou,” Goshiki said, ignoring his comment.

“I am, there’s so many,” Shouyou started to say but Goshiki moved his finger back to Shouyou’s lips. He quieted down saying nothing.

“No, you’re not. I may not know exactly how you feel, but push those "bad luck" thoughts aside. Just think about what matters the most right now. You're just scared and frightened of the unknown. Like, I remember my first time. It’s the night before your first match as captain. You’re nervous. You think you’re going to fail. You think we will be lost and run around like headless chickens.” Shouyou nodded as if Goshiki had accurately verbalized his thoughts. “No matter how nervous you feel or how whatever it is that's got you like this, just know nothing is changed. I’m still me, Kei is still Kei, Koganegawa is still Koganegawa. You know how we are. Right?”

“But, I knew how they were and they still-”

“Shouyou this is my team,” Goshiki stressed. “I won’t let anyone else fail. I know it’s just words, but I don’t, and I stress, don’t want to let us fail ever again. I’ll do everything I can to ensure that doesn’t happen.”

“But you’re the ace captain, _boy genius_ , _one hit wonder_ Goshiki Tsutomu of the _indominable_ Shiratorizawa and I’m just, failure Shouyou Hinata the fallen decoy of Karasuno. It’s easy for you to say that we won’t fail anymore, but for me, if they call us out on a real mission, then what’s happened before will happen again.”

“No!” Goshiki almost shouted. “No, we won’t. It isn’t like that. Listen, screw all those titles right now, this is about you! Your duty as a captain is to trust in yourself to do what everyone else can’t. That’s what I believe. If everyone else has fallen prey to an attack, then it’s your job to outlast it. If everyone else has failed defending the base, then it’s your job to defend it. If everyone else hasn’t defeated an opponent, then it’s your job to defeat it. You’re the captain, the last line of defense. You never see captains being the first ones to abandon ship, do you? The team is your ship. You’re the captain, you’re the one who navigates us through the rocky waters, who flies us through the turbulent skies, and who guides us through the towering mountains.”

“That’s all I’m supposed to do, trust myself,” Shouyou asked as the gleam in his eyes changed from sorrow to muted excitement. It was as if understanding of what his purpose was had finally started to show itself to him.

“Yes,” Goshiki said cautiously. Shouyou was just right there. He was on the verge of finally understanding what his role as captain would be, as defined by Goshiki.

“But what about you all,” Shouyou asked.

“We’re to support you and support the goal. You’re to guide us because,” Goshiki paused.

“I’m the captain,” Shouyou stated almost triumphantly.

“Yes,” Goshiki said apprehensively. “Yes, because you are the acting captain.”

“This is your ship,” Shouyou stated softly as if he were describing a pet dog being left in the care of a friend for a weekend. “I’ll treat it as if it’s my own.”

“I don’t want to give it to you after I worked so hard to get it, but I have to.”

“I know,” Shouyou said and almost giggled. “You’re easy to read sometimes.”

“What?!” Goshiki poked him playfully.

Shouyou laughed. “It’s what Kei always says.”

“Of course,” Goshiki facepalmed as he laughed. “But, Shouyou, do you feel better now?” Goshiki asked as he moved backwards freeing up the space between them. Shouyou saddened as the distance between them grew. Goshiki misunderstood it for Shouyou’s lingering thoughts on his past.

“Can I,” Shouyou began to ask. “Oh, never mind,” he said as he started to move over and out of the bed. Goshiki grabbed his arm before he had a chance to swing his feet to the floor.

“Where are you going?” Goshiki asked.

“I was going to bed,” Shouyou answered sadly.

“Just stay here.” Goshiki pat his pillow and space right next to him. Shouyou smiled happily and laid back down.

“Thanks! Goshiki!” Shouyou snuggled in under the covers and slid close to him.

Goshiki still felt uneasy about bringing up the discussion over why he felt the need to come to his bed every night. After coming back from the mission, Shouyou seemed to have changed in some ways. Normally he did fine at night, sleeping in his own bed peacefully, being always confident and smiling, but now he was at times someone else. Very worried, very scared, crying and emotional, with some hints of a self-destructive insecurity, it was strange.  With the revelation from tonight, it almost seemed as if Shouyou had been repressing some memory, some feelings that he hoped to get away from by coming here to Shiratorizawa, but now, with the same set of circumstances, Goshiki guessed, he was going on the verge of relapsing. Goshiki filed this away in the back of his mind, declaring it as something to take care of someday if it starts affecting Shouyou’s performance, but for now all he would do was watch and wait. If he needed someone to be there to sleep with to keep him company then fine, it’s not like it adversely affected him. Though he was slightly curious about Shouyou’s past event at Karasuno, he couldn’t help but wonder if he should risk it and ask. Though if it would cause him to completely relapse into a miserable heap of feelings, then Goshiki realized he may not be prepared to deal with.

“Goodnight, Goshiki,” Shouyou said softly.

“Night, Shouyou. Don’t oversleep.”

“I would never.”

Goshiki laughed loudly. “You know you’ve overslept before.”

“There is no way I can oversleep tomorrow. It will be embarrassing.”

“It will be which is why I will make sure you don’t.”

“Thank you,” Shouyou pulled the covers up to cover both his and Goshiki’s chests, and almost up to his mouth. They lay silently almost drifting off to sleep when Shouyou spoke again.

“Do you think Koganegawa and Kei know yet?”

“I don’t know. I tried to think of ways to bring it up to them, but I couldn’t,” Goshiki sighed.

“But you told me. Why?”

“Cause you’re, uhm, different? I guess.”

“What, how?”

“It’s hard to put into words.” Honestly Goshiki didn’t know why he even told Shouyou beforehand but he seemed oddly comfortable about it. There weren’t even hard or jealous feelings he thought he would have. I mean you’re telling the one who was your subordinate that he is now your boss. Anyone would feel some tinge of regret and feelings of inadequacy about it, but with Shouyou, he felt like they were equals, like Shouyou wouldn’t look down on him and wouldn’t let him look down on himself.

“Anyway, enough talk, sleep,” Goshiki quickly said and turned over.

“Okay, okay,” Shouyou added.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus begins the next arc. 
> 
> Im such a slow writer and I tend to work at the same lines for hours and days until they are just right, but there is just something satisfying about getting a scene done to meet like 90-100% of how I've imagined it in my head and seeing how the characters and events play out in just the right order to make me really enjoy reading and rereading what I wrote. 
> 
> I just really love the cast of four I have here and working their canonical roles somewhat into this science-fiction based world and then applying my interpretation of their characters into it.
> 
> Thanks any and all that have read even bits and parts of this or the whole thing. It's still my baby.

**Author's Note:**

> Last year I did a NaNoWriMo fanfic for Haikyuu!! that I managed to actually complete during the month long period. So Ive decided to post it now that the next round is starting. 
> 
> This is probably a bit too out there, but I kind of wanted to mix the idea of the setting of World Trigger and the team based aspect of it with Haikyuu! I mean volleyball is kind of like it, and I wanted to put a few of my fav characters on the same side. The sci-fi setting might be pushing it a bit too far and of course one has to wonder, why didnt you go with just an original story, but I think Im not high level enough to create my own characters -Also well I just wanted to have fun and I love the Shiratorizawa's, and some Karasunos and Datekous!.
> 
> Please enjoy my humble attempt at fiction again, and thanks for reading. Kind of chuckled at some parts.


End file.
